Josh Heupel offers high praise for Joe Milton after strong spring

The Joe Milton hype train is growing by the day, and it has continued to gather speed as we head into the bulk of the offseason.

The 2023 season marks the first time Milton will go through an entire offseason as ‘the guy’ during his college career. Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel isn’t worried about Milton’s lack of experience as a QB1, and believes he fits perfectly in line with Heupel’s vision for the Vols’ offense.

“Really excited about what he’s done, man. He had a great spring,” Heupel said during the SEC meetings last week. “I think he’s continued to refine himself as a quarterback, his fundamentals, really impressed with what he did as far as pocket movement during the course of the spring, really accurate with the football. Got to have a great summer. Anticipate him doing that and helping us go win some ball games in the fall.”

Since arriving in Knoxville in 2020, Milton has passed for 1,346 yards and has a 12-0 touchdown-to-interception ratio entering his final season of eligibility. Before that, he played for Michigan from 2018-2020 before hitting the transfer portal and settling down and finding a home in Knoxville.

After being forced into a starting role following Hendon Hooker‘s torn ACL late last season, Milton helped lead the Vols to pivotal a 31-14 win over Clemson in the Orange Bowl. He completed 19 of his 28 attempts (67.9 percent) for 251 yards and three touchdowns. The win cemented Tennessee as having arrived back on the national scene in college football.

Now, he has a golden opportunity to prove to everyone why there’s so much hype surrounding him and the Vols’ program.

“He’s had a great offseason. Everybody in our program, in that locker room, believed he would play in a great way when he got his next opportunity. Had that at the end of [last] year,” Heupel said. “He’s continued to have great urgency in preparation and continued to grow as a leader.”

Growing as a leader is something that’s not only important to Milton but having incoming true freshman and five-star recruit Nico Iamaleava coming into the program has also forced Milton to step his game up and take the future starter under his wing.

Having someone like Milton — who had Henden Hooker himself — to groom him for what will likely be his starting job beginning in 2024, will do just as much for Iamaleava’s game as anything his coaches will teach him this season.