Josh Heupel (SEC Photo)
Tennessee lost a NFL draft pick at quarterback just like Kentucky did but Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said at SEC Media Days Thursday in Nashville that he expected his new quarterback to have a “great” season.
Q. With Hendon Hooker, you had a transfer that came in and had some success at the quarterback position and now you have Joe Milton at quarterback who is a transfer himself. I know you saw that growth with Hendon. Talk about what it’s been like for you to watch the growth from Joe.
JOSH HEUPEL: Yeah, I think one of the great stories in college football in the era of the transfer portal is his trust and ability to recognize areas that he can continue to grow in and trust the people around him; that we have his best interests at heart. Understand that within our scheme, he’s going to have an opportunity to do everything he wants to, which is to be one of the best players in college football.
Through that process over the last, you know, 18 to 24 months, he’s continued to grow in his comfort of who he is, what he’s about and how he wants to attack and approach every single day and how he wants to grow as a football player, meaning fundamentally at the quarterback position, along with understanding offensive and defensive schemes so that he can puts his eyes in the right spot, get his body in the right spot to be consistently accurate with the football, and then how he wants to impact his teammates.
Nobody inside our program was surprised by the success that he had when he got his opportunity last year as a starter. He played extremely well when he got into football games throughout the course of the season. But his preparation, his urgency, how he practiced, all those things led himself and everybody inside our building to believing that he was going to play at that type of level. And he’s got a lot more out there.
He’s had a great off-season for 15 practices in spring ball. Did a great job of working, navigating the pocket, and being extremely accurate with the football. I’m really excited to get back on the grass with him during the course of training camp. I believe he’s poised to have a great ’23 season.
One Response
What coach doesn’t think their new quarterback will be successful? I would be shocked if he said anything else.
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