Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel was complimentary of Joe Milton’s performance during the Vols’ first fall camp scrimmage in Neyland Stadium on Thursday morning.
The sixth-year quarterback returned to Rocky Top for his final season as he is now set to take over Tennessee’s high-powered offense.
While the scrimmage on Thursday was behind closed doors from the media and the fans, Heupel discussed Milton’s ability to orchestrate the Vols’ offense on Thursday and throughout the first week-and-a-half of fall camp.
“Joe, I thought operationally was really good,” Heupel said. “There was some situational stuff that we can be better, coming out in situation. We did some four-minute things at the end as well. It’s a great opportunity. Coaches are completely off the sidelines, coaches are up in the box. Guys have to learn how to operate between the white lines. There’s growth in that way for Joe. All in all, I was really pleased with his decision-making and what he did with the football all day long.”
Milton’s command of the offense and the football stems from two specific directions.
On one hand, Milton’s time spent as the backup to Hendon Hooker fully allowed him to digest the Vols’ offense. Milton routinely prepared as if he was the starter during Hooker’s time in Knoxville to fully prepare himself for the eventual opportunity to take over the offense.
In addition to that, though, Milton’s two years as the backup allowed him to develop relationships that may not have been there during his short time as the starter in 2021.
“Accuracy is based on how well you know your receivers, like you said,” Milton said during an interview at SEC Media Days on Thursday. “When I first got here, I didn’t know those guys and I was going through a little bit of struggles. But as I got to know those guys by being the backup, I got to understand those guys and what they wanted to do with the offense and the routes.”
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On the other hand, Milton has put in the work during the offseason according to himself, his coaches, and his teammates. Despite leading Tennessee to two straight victories against Vanderbilt and Clemson to close the 2022 season, Milton understood that he still needed to take strides in the offseason to be fully prepared for the upcoming 12-game regular season.
“He’s a completely different guy, not just player,” Tennessee OC Joey Halzle said about Milton at the start of fall camp. “His attention to detail is elite. He came back after that Clemson game and was hungry to keep learning and keep pushing forward. He didn’t rest on his lulls and say he had figured it out. He pushed and saw the success that he had, and he knew what he could do.”
Heupel spoke highly about Milton’s ability to operate the offense but wants to see more growth in the situational side of the game.
“Processing the offense, he’s operating and handling at a really high level right now,” Heupel said about Milton. “Decision making, understanding protections, how to get himself protected or throw hot, his eyes as far as what he’s seeing from the second level pre-snap and on the snap. He’s been really good at that part of it. Situational football for the quarterback, continuing to grow just in understanding four-minute situations – which we did from a backed-up situation today – clock management. All those things are a continued part of all of those guys’ growth, from Joe all the way to Gaston Moore and everybody that is in the room.”
As Tennessee continues to develop Milton on the road to the 2023 season, the Vols are also not afraid to throw their star freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava into challenging situations during fall camp.
“When you have to grow, you have to grow,” Heupel said about putting Iamaleava into tough situations. “You have to be pushed. When we install it, he’s running everything. You’ve heard me say that when they finish spring ball, when they come back at the beginning of training camp, they should be a different player. He’s a different player. He has great command and understanding of what we’re doing. He understands protections. He understands how he has to get us out of run-run checks, pass-run checks or whatever it might be. He hasn’t been perfect, but he’s grown.”
The coaching staff has been complimentary of Iamaleava throughout the fall regarding his work over the summer and fall camp. During his press conference on Thursday, Heupel expanded on what Iamaleava has been doing well this week.
“One of the things that we’ve talked about is not making the same mistake twice,” Heupel said. “He doesn’t make the same mistake twice. He learns from it. There was a rep yesterday as he was going through his reading progression. There was a tight window on the inside, he throws the ball and while he’s standing in the pocket, you can see him visually be like, ‘Hey man, I should’ve gotten to the next one outside.’ He’s intentional and has great work habits.”
With a veteran sixth-year senior quarterback in Joe Milton and former No. 1 overall prospect with freshman Nico Iamaleava, Tennessee has two strong arms in the quarterback room for different reasons. The optimism from the coaching staff is a positive sign for Tennessee’s season ahead.
