Tennessee QB Joe Milton III talks leadership, helping freshman Nico Iamaleava

What Joe Milton III said during a recent press conference discussing the upcoming season for Tennessee football, his play in the Orange Bowl and being on the practice field alongside five-star freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava:

Moving forward with this Tennessee football team, not looking back to last season

“Yes, I pretty much let the team know that. Whatever happened last year, we can’t go back and change it. We can’t go back and help it. The only thing we can do now is get better as a team now. Prove it with the guys that we have on our team now.”

How much more comfortable he is in the Tennessee offense now compared to when he got here

“I’m way more comfortable. But I’m the type of person that I just want to learn more. There is obviously something in one of the plays that I don’t know, so I want to learn that so I can be better, understand my rules, understand what is going on.”

How many times he has watched the Orange Bowl film, if that’s a performance he can repeat

“I don’t watch the Orange Bowl anymore. That was in 2022. I let that game be. I just try to get better everyday. What happened is what happened. Do I think I can repeat that? Obviously if I keep preparing the way I prepare and keep doing things the way I need to do.”

How much better he understands the offense now compared to when hew as starting at the beginning of the 2021 season

“Way — when I say ‘way,’ I mean a lot of Y’s with the line above it, to make the ‘Y’ be repeated. Way better. It’s just things that I didn’t comprehend when I first got here. There are a lot more things that I see now that I didn’t see when I first got here. So I’m obligated to move faster. I see things different. I can also talk to the receivers and let them know what I see now. I get to play more smooth, more calm and just be me.”

His message to Tennessee freshmen

“Go make mistakes. It’s football. At the end of the day, it’s football. Nico comes to me every night, right after meetings, he asks me questions about the script. I’m willing to help any way I can. That’s just me, personally. But for any freshman in the country — it doesn’t just have to be Tennessee — go make mistakes. You never know what’s going to happen. It’s not like high school. Things speed up. But at the same time, it’s football. Go learn what you need to learn and do what you need to do.”

His leadership style

“I would say I’m an overall leader, I lead by example and lead vocally. Just because of my body size, people listen to me more. I know that sounds intimidating, but at the same time, I use it to my advantage. I don’t yell — I don’t have to yell — unless I have to. But whatever I say and however I say it, it will come off differently if somebody 5-2 was saying it. Use that to my advantage and I just roll with it. Just being observant of what’s going on around me, knowing that guys can’t be complacent, knowing that I can’t be complacent for myself. We just have to keep going as an offense, as a defense, as a team. Just keep going. That’s what my leadership role is and that’s what I do.”

Running with Nico Iamaleava after Iamaleava lost a throwing competition 

“I mean, I wanted to run, for one. Two, just let him know what it was that he was doing wrong and what I can do to help. And also just to have a conversation. We didn’t throw too much before that together. Just building communication throughout each other. It’s gotta be a one-two punch regardless of who is out there. It has to be a one-two punch.”

Joe Milton III: ‘Once you take the game too serious, that’s when things start going bad’

What he felt he could’ve done better in Tennessee’s Orange Bowl win over Clemson

“Seeing things correctly. I don’t think I missed a throw that game, but just seeing things correctly. There are certain reads in our playbook that, as a quarterback, you have to be able to understand and do. Some of those throughout that game I did not do. So I feel like we could’ve had more points on the board if I had done things correctly. It’s not all about me. We won and that’s all that matters.”

Seeing Nico Iamaleava on the practice field during spring, what has caught his attention

“I mean, he can for sure throw the ball. That’s one thing. But also his willingness to learn. I always told Nico when he first got here, any question, it’s not a dumb question. Ask me whatever you want. I’ve been through it all. I’ve been through adversity twice. Ask me whatever you want. That goes for anybody on the team. Ask me whatever you want. I may not have the answer, but I really may have the answer just because I’ve been through a lot. He’s very impressive. He’s intelligent, he wants to understand what’s going on. He doesn’t want to be out there just to have his head on a swivel all day. He wants to understand what’s going on. He wants to know everything I know. So I help him out.”

If he ever has to remind himself that he’s the older guy in the quarterback room

“It’s pretty funny to say, just being 23 and being the oldest in the room is kind of crazy. I don’t have no shame in it. I don’t. Because I have fun regardless. I help those guys understand that it’s all about fun. You want to have fun. If you want to be good at this game, have fun. Once you take the game too serious, that’s when things start going bad. Just have fun.”