Before Tennessee football began its fall practice Wednesday morning, head coach Josh Heupel as well as offensive coordinator Joey Halzle and defensive coordinator Tim Banks met with the local media for the Vols’ in-house media day.
Halzle is in his third season with the Vols’ program but first in his new role as offensive coordinator. The former Oklahoma quarterback replaced Alex Golesh who left Tennessee to be the head coach at South Florida.
Banks is in his third season as the Vols’ defensive coordinator and discussed the development of the secondary, Tennessee’s senior linebackers and much more.
Here’s everything Halzle and Banks said before the Vols’ opened up fall camp.
Joey Halzle
On how much of a jumpstart Joe Milton III got playing in the final two games of 2022
“I think that’s always big. There’s no substitution for actually playing on the field. As much as you want to rep in practice or as much as he does off the field, there’s nothing like being back there with live bullets. Obviously not a great situation like you said on the way it occurred, but him being able to get those two games under his belt before taking it over this year were huge for his development and huge for our team to see the level at which he played. They have a ton of confidence in him after that game.”
On how different of a person and quarterback Joe Milton III is today versus two years ago
“He’s a completely different guy, not just player. 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. Now his mentality is matching that on how much he wants to learn and how he’s consuming the game at all times. It’s fun to be a part of right now, and it’s a special mindset that this kid has.”
On what kind of run-after-catch ability the wide receivers bring to the table
“I think we have elite run-after-catch ability. You have different types of guys. You’ve got (Squirrel White) who’s a 10-4 guy. That elite level speed that can run around an entire defense. You’ve got (Bru McCoy) who runs the ball like he’s a linebacker. You have a bunch of young guys who are out there just ball-in-hand, lighting quick. There’s been a lot of emphasis on how we can get these guys the ball. It doesn’t always have to be 50 yards down the field. How do we get them the ball, get them in space, and let them go do their thing. It’s going to be fun to watch.”
On the bond Joe Milton III and Hendon Hooker had versus the bond now forming between Milton and Nico Iamaleava
“They’re already extremely close. I think Nico getting here in December, having those 15 bowl practices and then going to the bowl site, where he just got to be around the guys. He was new, so he didn’t really know them, but he just got to be around. Everyone was saying you know, I like this guy, he’s a good dude, he’s just a normal kid. Now it’s like a big brother-little brother relationship with the two of them. You rarely see Joe without Nico. So, it’s been great for him to kind of see the way a quarterback should operate on a day-to-day level. Joe has been a great mentor to him, and he’s really helping bring along his development on and off the field.”
On the work Ramel Keyton put in the offseason and how it compared to Jalin Hyatt’s offseason last year
“Whenever you see someone have the success that they had on the field, whenever you can engineer that backwards and see why. What changed from year one to year two for Jalin, it was completely the way he approached the game, like what I said with Joe (Milton III). It’s rare to be in this building and not see Ramel in there on some form of the jug machine catching deep balls, short and crossers. He is in there all the time getting his stuff in. He has done that in the past, but I think he feels an opportunity, and to me, he’s trying to mirror what Jalin did. He had an opportunity when Velus (Jones Jr.) left, so he took the most of it. Now with some guys leaving the program, I think Ramel feels like he has that opportunity, and he’s putting in the work so he can try and take it.”
On the significance of the chemistry Joe Milton III built with Ramel Keyton and Squirrel White
“I think it’s kind of like I said with the game reps, there’s no substitute for it. As long as you can get out there and throw with the guys you’re throwing to, it helps. You see whenever a quarterback in the NFL changes a team, he gets the receivers together and starts throwing, because they all have different speeds and see things differently. So, it’s absolutely an advantage when they’ve really had almost two years of working together and now, they’re all trying to take that step up into the next roll. I don’t think its overblown, but it’s not to say they won’t have great chemistry with Bru (McCoy) and the guys that have been there in the past. It’s a very helpful thing, but it’s just not the end all be all of how it’s going to fit together.”
On examples of how Joe Milton III has had great attention to detail in the offseason
“For Joe, a lot of it is not just knowing what the pass routes were. He could’ve told you what they were, but why are we calling things in certain situations. If he’s knowing the why behind why we’re doing things in certain situations, why is this coming up opposed to this, it helps him to understand, ‘Where do I want to get with this ball, and where do my eyes start?’ In the run game, he can tell you all the calls that the offensive lines make, which helps him be like, ‘If this is an RPO, am I reading this guy? Am I reading that guy? What about pressure? Field pressure? Internal pressure? How are they picking up? Are they picking it up?’ He has a huge understanding of that now which is extremely detailed, which allows him to just go play free and let his talent take over because he’s not trying to see everything at the same time. When you understand, I am protected or I’m not, this run is blocked or it’s not, now you can just get your eyes in the right spot and go be a big talented guy, which he is.”
On how much Tennessee can add to the offense this season with new personnel
“That’s been a big focus of our off season. We are who we are, but we’ve got some guys with some specific skill sets that we feel like our job as a staff is to take those skill sets and let them show them off on Saturdays. A lot of it has been like what is good for this specific guy, not just who we are and what we do, but what is good for this guy, and how do we get him in a situation that benefits his skill set and will play to that as well.”
On how to coach players to focus on the next play
“A lot of that is just training the mind that anger doesn’t help you. It’s a quote-unquote failure on that last play, something that didn’t go (well), just file it away, learn something from it and move on. That’s been the biggest thing from (Joe Milton III). ‘I don’t know why I did that,’ okay cool, let’s figure out why. That’s why this play didn’t work. Whether my eyes were in the wrong spot, my fundamentals were wrong, whatever it was. Let’s learn from that and then file it away and grow from it. That’s been the thing that he’s done. That’s why you’ve heard what he said, ‘I couldn’t put plays behind me.’ It’s because he’s been thinking about them instead of saying, ‘Alright, let me learn from it. I learn from it, and I move on.’ That’s how he’s been able to grow on that area right there.”
On how Joe Milton III will be utilized in the run game differently compared to Hendon Hooker
“He’s different. Hendon played around 218-ish; Joe is 235-240. Big guy like that, you can do a lot of fun stuff that can run. Obviously running a quarterback, we all understand you have to be smart and pick your times to do it. I’m sure there will be times where we feel like in a certain game versus certain looks, maybe we lean on it a little more. With what we have in the backfield too, Joe can do some stuff, but we aren’t going to take away from those guys.”
On how different his job is from a day-to-day basis since his promotion to offensive coordinator
“The guys I have working with me in the quarterback room, Mitch (Mitello) and Jack (Lowary), are amazing. They do a great job, trust them completely and wholeheartedly. It’s mainly been, now you’re running the meetings. So on the front end of it, everything has to be prepared instead of walking in, waiting to hear what we’re doing and how does this just affect my quarterbacks. That’s the main difference. The setup for the day, I have to be making sure it makes sense for everybody, not just taking in what I’m hearing and making sure it makes sense for the quarterbacks and only looking through at that scope. I have to look through it at the scope of, is this right for the tackle, is this good for the backs, is this good for the receivers, is this good for the tight ends. It’s not just does it affect my position, which we did as a staff. I’ve said it a bunch since I’ve taken over this job, it’s extremely communal in the way we operate and work. For me on the front end, I have to be more intentional about an entire offensive scope and not just a quarterback scope.”
On how comfortable he would be if they were to need Nico Iamaleava early in the season
“Huge confidence in him. That guy is mature beyond his years. He didn’t come in like a true freshman, he came in, one wanting to learn. Not thinking, ‘I’m a highly rated recruit, I got it figured out.’ He came in understanding, I want to learn, I need to know. The way that guy has his calmness on the field, just his demeanor, I think the guys believe in him as well. If he’s called upon to do a job, that dude will step in and compete at a high level and perform at a high level. We have a ton of confidence in that guy.”
On what he saw from Dont’e Thornton Jr. when he came in and how he has done over the summer in learning the scheme
“He does, to use your word, he has freaky talent. A guy of his size that can run like that is rare. There’s good players and guys that have rare traits. That guy is extremely rare in what he can do on the football field. Whenever we come in and it’s completely different from what most people doa, there’s a learning curve. He spends as much time with the quarterbacks as anybody. He’s always with Joe (Milton III) as well, like ‘Alright, how do you want that, how do you see that? Do you see it the way I’m seeing it?’ He’s once again not an older guy that’s come in, like I got it, kind of trying to be a mercenary. He’s trying to learn too and trying to do it the way we do it. Really happy with where we are. Tomorrow it’s time to show that you got it.”
On how much the coaches know about Joe Milton III’s skillset in the offense compared to two years ago
“His accuracy has grown so much. His touch has grown so much because he’s dialed into fundamentally changing a little bit. He had the classic thing; he has a naturally powerful arm. A lot of times you can just get away with things. He has taken a huge growth in using his lower body, not trying to rip the ball with his upper body all the time, and his accuracy has just jumped through the roof right there. With that big powerful arm, he can put the ball out on the perimeters really quick. He gives you some ways to stretch the field, not just vertically with the arm, but laterally as well. That guy can do anything you ask him to, and now he’s doing it at a higher, consistent level. That’s why you’re going to see the jump from that year one to now.”
On what he hopes to see from Nico Iamaleava in fall camp based on what he saw him grow in over the summer
“I think he did a great job in spring, just to start there. Getting thrust into the two reps, which a lot of freshmen come in and they’re going against a freshman. He’s going in there against linebackers that have played four years of college football already, and Coach Banks has his entire disposal of his defense at him. Anytime going from spring to summer, that is a huge time – Coach Heupel is exactly right – to make jumps at the quarterback position. I’m looking for him to be more defined with his eyes, not trying to figure out, ‘What am I getting?’ Having a clearer picture like, ‘That’s what I’m getting, this is where my eyes go, and that’s where the ball goes.’ You just keep growing from that, and that’s really quarterback play in general. Eliminating quickly, getting the ball out of your hand with accuracy. That all comes from understanding more of your offense, more understanding of defense. Same thing I was saying with Joe, ‘Am I protected or not?’ If you don’t know, you’re going to watch the rush. If you don’t have to watch the rush because you know you’re protected, your eyes are up and they’re in the right spot. All the intricacies of quarterback play, that’s where I’m looking to see that growth from spring to fall camp.”
On where Bru McCoy has made the most strides after a year
“He’s done a great job. He’s completely changed his body from getting here. The guy is in amazing shape. He has such an intricate knowledge of what we’re doing and how we’re trying to accomplish it now. It’s kind of like we said with Joe (Milton III), it’s fun to watch him just go play now. Now a big, strong, fast guy is going and playing really strong and really fast. It’s been great to see him, once again, not be a transfer that thinks they got everything figured out. ‘Hey coach, just tell me the plays and I’ll go play.’ Actually wanting to improve himself, his skillset, all of that, and now you’re going to see that. Once again, I feel like he’s going to take another huge step this year.”
On what makes Coach Heupel such a great offensive mind and football coach
“Two things, and they almost sound a little contradictory. One, he doesn’t stray from who he is. He knows who he is, he knows who we are, and he’s going to push that. He’s going to make sure that’s the way it’s handled. But he doesn’t tight cast him so much that he doesn’t allow himself to think of new things, creative things. Also, like I was saying, being creative to players. He always asks the question, ‘Does that work for him?’ You come up with a cool play design, ‘I think that’s cool, is that the right route for him? Is he good at that, does someone else need to go there or does the whole thing need to get canned?’ He makes you think of the actual players and not just the plays. He’s going to stay true to who he is, but he’s going to make sure what he’s doing makes sense for the guy standing on the field. If they’re not ready to do it, or they’re not capable of doing it, it doesn’t matter how good the design is, it’s not going to work.”
On Ramel Keyton’s ability as a receiver
“Ramel is an elite deep ball threat. You’ve seen that last year when he stepped in for (Cedric Tillman). That guy can track a deep ball at a high level, and he’s got deceptively long speed on people because he’s a long strider. He’s a great threat there, and he has very natural ball skills. You’ve seen him make a ton of catches off his body. He doesn’t struggle to extend his arms and catch in traffic; he doesn’t have that fear. So, his ball skills and his long speed are big attributes for us.”
On receivers fighting for playing time
“That’s one of the best parts about fall camp. Everyone is going to get their shot, and the guys that show that we can’t afford to not have them on the field are going to be on the field. Doesn’t matter if they are a freshman, sophomore, junior or senior. We will play multiple guys; we have multiple receivers we feel really comfortable with and confident in. That’s going to help us in the long run of a long SEC season.”
On McCallan Castles and Jacob Warren’s growth from the spring going into the fall
“It’s similar to what I was saying about Nico and Joe. You rarely see Joe (Milton III) without Nico (Iamaleava), you rarely see Jacob without McCallan. McCallan being older when he came in, he had less to do physically than the freshmen. He’s already a big strong kid. He’s since then put on about 15 pounds. He looks amazing right now. He can run, he’s a guy that can get in and out of his breaks really well, and it’s fun to see guys with that kind of skill set when they get so comfortable with the offense and now, they just go play. They play fast, and they play aggressive. That’s been since the very first time I’ve talked to you guys a couple years back. We’re going to play fast, and we are going to play aggressive. That’s the non-negotiable here. To see them be able to do it because they’re actually comfortable in the scheme, that’s when it gets fun.”
On the offensive line competition during fall camp, specifically at left guard and right tackle
“Losing (Jerome Carvin) that played a ton of snaps here, whenever you lose a top 10 pick (in Darnell Wright), I don’t care the position, it’s hard to replace. I think it’s the same (answer) with the receivers. We feel great about our young guys. Some guys that came in mid-year, we feel like we’re in a good spot. Whenever you have that kind of opening, that open competition, it makes for practice to be intense and physical. It brings the best for the whole, iron sharpens iron. Whenever there are true open spots, guys try to go get them. It makes for a great camp when you have those situations out there.”
On the depth of the quarterback position impacting play calling for quarterback runs
“Probably even more now, it’s hard to keep a lot of scholarship guys in the room. We feel really confident in the guys we do have in the room. I think there’s always been that with the quarterback, that’s always the question. He’s a good runner, how much do you really want to run that guy? Because no matter who you have, whenever you lose your starter, it’s just hard. It’s hard to come in the second quarter of an SEC game on the road. I don’t care who you are. You’ve been preparing as the two all week, you’re taking all your reps, and you’re mentally ready to go, but you’re coming in almost halfway through or a quarter-way through a game that everyone else is already playing. It’s just hard. There’s always that balance of how much do you run him versus how much is he going to create runs on his own when he scrambles. You factor all that in, you try to do the thing that’s best for the team based on the scheme, what do we need to get to, but also allow you to have longevity throughout the grind that is an SEC schedule.”
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Tim Banks
On opposing defenses struggling against Tennessee’s offense
“That’s a great question. I think with anything, it starts with your players. We have really good personnel here. Obviously, tremendous quarterback play over the last couple of years and a plethora of receivers. I don’t think that our o-line nor our running backs get the credit they deserve. I think it starts with the players. Then you add Coach Heupel and his football acumen with Coach (Joey Halzle), and what coach (Alex Golesh) brought to the table, Coach (Glen Elarbee), that whole staff. I just think it’s a combination of great players, great minds on the offensive side of the ball and tremendous scheme. We feel very fortunate that every day, we get a chance to go against (that offense). We feel like if we can defend those guys, we’ll have a great opportunity defending anybody in the country.”
On the defensive line’s ability to rush four and affect the quarterback
“Another great question. That’s obviously what we’re building toward. We feel very good about the number of guys that we have returning. We feel like we’ve recruited at a high level, and we have some young players that are going to get some opportunities to show what they can do. Just like anything, it’s a work in progress. We’ll obviously know more once we get going during camp this season. Hopefully we develop the way that we think we should. That’ll open up some more opportunities for us to be more creative in terms of getting to the quarterback.”
On the jump the defense has made and if he saw that improvement in fall camp last year
“I think everything is a process, so to speak. We thought we were getting better. We showed dividends in some stats, but I think we got better in a lot of areas quite frankly. That’s why you work. Every year is a new year. You try to identify some things that you think you need to improve on that can help us win and win at a higher clip. We obviously identified some things last year, and we worked to correct it. Like I say every day, it always starts with the players. I thought our players bought in to what we are trying to get accomplished, and they played at a high level.”
On senior linebackers Aaron Beasley and Keenan Pili and their leadership
“I think with Aaron, it’s about confidence. Honestly, he’s always been confident, but as the spotlight started to shift toward him a little bit, I thought he got more comfortable in that setting. He’s been great. I think he’s had a tremendous offseason. From a leadership perspective, I think he feels like he has a voice and people will obviously listen when they see the production that he’s put together consistently. As far as KP (Keenan Pili) goes, he was a great addition to our team this spring. He’s a tremendous young man and a tremendous family man. He’s big, athletic, physical. We’re super excited about watching him continue to develop during camp. I think all of our team, particularly on our side of the ball, really respects him because of his work ethic. He’s not really a real vocal person at this point, but I think as he continues to get more comfortable with our team, I think you’ll see him get even more vocal.”
On the ‘proof of concept’ within the program
“I think it’s great. I think it’s great for the fans. For us, personally, we realize that what you did last year was last year. I think at this point, we’re continuing to chop wood and carry water so to speak, to get ready for this upcoming season. From a confidence perspective, obviously that’s great. But, as I told the kids, experience is only good when you can go back and learn from it, whether it was good or bad. If we learn from it and build upon it, then it’s something that can become special. We can’t carry over any tackles. We can’t carry over any interceptions. We have to earn them again during camp, and that’s honestly the goal.”
On when he realized the caliber of Beasley’s game
“When we got here, he had just kind of transitioned to the linebacker position. He’s really a quiet guy by nature, but I think he has a quiet confidence about him. He was always sneaky athletic. He didn’t say a bunch, but we got here with some things that he needed to get cleaned up. He missed a little bit of time, but when he got back and got his legs under him, we knew right away that he could be a guy we could count on. Nothing’s been given to him. Everything has been earned. That just makes it that much sweeter to me. He’s definitely one of those guys. He didn’t come in here as a highly thought of linebacker. Obviously, he was a defensive back, but he’s really worked his tail off every year to put himself in a position to not only be a consistent linebacker, but be a high-impact linebacker in this league.”
On Tyler Baron’s development
“Tyler has always had the God-given talent. He’s arguably one of our better players on our defense in general, not just up front. He’s long and athletic. I think the biggest thing for him is just that he’s been banged up a ton. He was fortunate enough to be able to make it all the way through spring. We saw a lot of great consistency with his play. We’re obviously super fired up to watch it carry over to camp. What does a successful season look like for him? I think it’s him reaching his full potential on the field. That will help our defense. The goal is to play at a high level defensively, and he can be a big part of that.”
On the different level of competition he expects from the cornerbacks this fall compared to last fall
“It will help a ton because all of those guys are healthy at this point. They’re very talented. I think the room is very talented. Again, if you’re not out there to get the reps, it’s hard to play to your full potential. Having all of those guys back with game time experience only helps us because at the end of the day, to think that we can go into the season with just two corners is not what we think. We know we’ll need at least three or four and in a perfect world, five guys that we feel like we can plug and play and it won’t be a huge drop off. Having all of those guys healthy and ready to compete only will help that room get better. If they’re better, we’re obviously better.”
On where he has seen the most growth in his unit since arriving at Tennessee and what can take them to the next level
“I think the overall consistency and confidence. When we got here, I don’t think the room had a lot of confidence. Those guys are very confident in what they bring to the table. As far as where we need to go, every year is a new year. We just want to be consistent with our play. We want to be able to have a unit that guys can look out there and see very clearly that we’re going to play extremely hard, playing tough and being smart. We want to be a unit that doesn’t beat itself. For the most part, we’ve been that. But I think continuing to grow in those areas will only bode well for this team.”
On his expectations for senior defensive lineman Roman Harrison
“Roman has played a lot of football for us. It’s funny because when you go back through the cutups, B.Y. (Byron Young) had a tremendous season for us and he’ll be greatly missed, but Roman showed some flashes. He’s probably pound-for-pound one of the tougher players in this conference. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s about the consistency, playing a little bit smarter and cleaning up those things. Quite honestly, we saw some of that from him this spring. We thought he was a lot more consistent in what we were asking him to do. I think his overall knowledge of not just rushing the passer, but what we’re asking him to do in some coverage principles, he got a lot better. We’re expecting him to have a really good year for us and he needs to. He’s one of the harder workers on our team and on our defense in particular. We are hoping for the best for him. Everything he’s shown us to this point is learning toward that direction.”
On the luxury of having some of the same coaches in the program for a third consecutive year
“It’s always great. There is a lot of turnover every year in the collegiate game and obviously in the pros as well. I think from a football perspective, it’s awesome. To be quite honest, I think it’s awesome just as far as recruiting goes. You get a chance to recruit these kids, see them start to develop and grow not just as players, but as men. I don’t know if there’s anything more gratifying than that. To watch someone develop under your watch, academically, socially and obviously on the field is special. We’ve been able to have some continuity in where we call home. Knoxville has been very good to me and my wife. It’s truly a blessing and I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity.”
On what he likes about the skillset of junior defensive lineman Omarr Norman-Lott
“Omarr has been a good get for us. With his quickness, he’s very subtle. He’s not the biggest guy in terms of length, but he’s extremely wide and he has a tremendous first step. Our inside guys have been really good, particularly against the run. I think Lott can give us the same thing against the run, but I also think he brings the element of explosiveness and getting off the ball with his first step. We definitely think he’ll help us in the pass rush game, but with the way we move and stunt, I think he has a chance to be really productive in our system.”
On the defense playing a big role in several key wins last season and if that was communicated to the defensive players enough
“Honestly, our kids know. We know what we bring to the table. We know how well we play. You can’t win 11 games without playing great defense. We felt like we handled our business on that side of the ball, but our ultimate goal is to play for championships. For us to do that, we have to continue to grow in our role. Who gets the credit? We don’t spend a lot of time worrying about that. We worry more about getting a win at the end of the day. That’s been our message since day one. I think if you asked our kids, they would say the same. We don’t care about all of that. We know what we bring to the table. We’re very confident in our approach and our system. We’re super excited about the opportunity to go out there and compete for Tennessee.”
