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Tennessee offensive coordinator Joey Halzle agrees to new contract

On3 imageby: Brent Hubbs5 hours agoBrent_Hubbs

Tennessee offensive coordinator Joey Halzle has agreed to a new two-year contract to return as the Vols offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He worked this season on an expiring deal making $850,000. Halzle’s new deal will pay him $1.45 million a year and runs through January 31, 2028

This season, Halzle guided late transfer Joey Aguilar to the best season of his career. Aguilar threw for 3,444 yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Aguilar led the Southeastern Conference in passing yards. As an offense, the offense led the SEC in scoring, averaging 40.75 points a game and the Vols had the most first downs of any offense in the league. 

Tennessee’s explosiveness returned as well, with the Vols recording 39 plays of 30 or more yards, including 15 touchdowns. The offense was much improved from 2024, when Tennessee averaged 35 points per game, throwing for 2,875 yards in 13 games. 

Halzle, head coach Josh Heupel and the offense staff spent the offseason heading into this year retooling some things on their side of the ball.

“That’s been the entire focus of the offseason,” Halzle said. “Is when people are playing really really soft and dropping in coverage, how do we keep being explosive in the passing game? And that’s why, once again, we ran the ball the way we did last year. But it’s not going to be that we’re going to just say that that’s par for the course now. The entire focus of this offseason is how do we get our playmakers in space with the ball in their hands where they can run and do what we’ve recruited them here to do. 

“So feel like we’ve made some changes, we’ve done some things differently, but we’re never going to lose sight of who we are, which is to be extremely aggressive with how we call it, to push the tempo, to make people play in space, but what are the one or two little different things that we can do that help free people up and when people are playing really, really soft and saying, alright, you’re not going over the top today, What are we going to do to attack that and not let them set the directive of the game.”

Barring a court ruling, Halzle and the offensive staff will build the 2026 offense around a new quarterback. It will be fourth-straight season Tennessee will have a new starting signal-caller.