What offensive coordinator Joey Halzle said about Tennessee's quarterback battle

Everything Tennessee Football offensive coordinator Joey Halzle said during his press conference Tuesday afternoon about the Vols’ quarterback battle and the youth movement on offense:

Why Tennessee transfer quarterback Joey Aguilar threw so many interceptions last season at App State

“I think a lot of that comes from what we can do here scheme wise, getting him ready to go as far as fundamentals, eye placement. Getting involved in our scheme because it’s never just a plug and play with an older guy like that. A lot of people think you just drop a guy in, he’s played so he knows how to do it. It’s all going to be how does he go through this offense? How does he adjust to our fundamental? The way we teach it, the way we use our eyes, the way we know our protections and his ability to dive into that and his want to dive into that has been awesome. So don’t foresee any issues there. But you know, obviously that’s why we’re going into fall camp and we got to go see the actual proof of concept there.” 

Joey Aguilar’s film study habits, how he’s gotten to work with his teammates

“Joey’s been high end at that since he’s gotten here. Ever since he got here late in May. He didn’t start by starting where everyone else was. He went back and did every single spring install that our entire team went through. He did that on his own in about four days, embraced it really well, went out and walked through it all on the field at a high level. Has been going through summer ball the same exact way. So there hasn’t been any fall off there. And then he’s done a great job of making sure that he gets around his teammates because he is new. Taking the oline out to dinner, taking the wide receivers out to dinner and him and Jake (Merklinger) do that together a lot actually. 

“You’ll see them all together out there making sure that, more than anything, that this is a tight knit unit and that whoever steps on the field for that first game is well earned it and has their teammates back.”

Tennessee’s youth on offense this season

“I think we’re a very talented young room. I do agree that there’s not a lot of guys that have a ton of time in this offense. We’re very talented at the wide receiver position. It’s why Coach Heup sets this up the way he does, though. When we go through pre spring, get through all the installs that way. We go through spring ball, then you go through summer install. So by the time you get to fall camp, you’re on your fourth time running through the offense. So now it’s less about learning what to do, how to do it, and more about, like what’s the way to actually go play this game at a high level. So the way we go through our off season has allowed our young guys and our new guys a chance to really step in and show what they can do and not be slow out there on the field because they’re wondering what they’re supposed to do.”

The importance of the run game as they break in a new quarterback

“Yeah, I think whenever you’re introducing a new quarterback into the system, however it may be, the run game is always big time. And we’ve been able to run the ball at a high level here with Dylan Sampson winning the offensive player of the year in the SEC— led the SEC in rushing last year, it’s something that since we’ve been here, we’ve decided to hang our hat on being able to run the ball at a high clip. So we don’t see that taking any step back this year. And yet, to your point, if you can run the ball at a high level, it makes a lot of other things a lot easier on the guy catching the snaps back there.”

Jake Merklinger’s growth protecting himself, identifying coverages

“That’s a lot of times young quarterbacks, they’re protecting themselves. Saying, you’re running around in a red jersey and that red jersey comes off pretty quick. So that’s just a thing for all young quarterbacks that like to run. He’s a tough, competitive, smart kid. So he’s not scared to put his body on the line for the team. He’s going to need to be able to do that in a smart way, just like any quarterback will. Because in this conference, taking 15-20 hits a game is not the way to play an entire season. But doing that and then you know, it’s just reps. For guys that haven’t been here for a long time and you know I’m going to include him in that. He’s been here for one year. Like it’s just reps and reps. When you’re playing against a Tim Banks defense, you’re seeing every structure of every front of every background of every coverage. So it’s a really good learning tool for our guys. It’s like swinging with a weighted bat, playing against our defense all fall camp. That you see everything under the sun that you could imagine. And now you go into game week and you’re like, all right, now it’s reducing down to this is what we’re expecting. So don’t foresee any issues with him on that end.”

The timeline of narrowing down starting quarterback candidates, if he’d play two QBs during the season

“No, I think whenever you’re going through a quarterback competition, the first thing is that the team, the full team, but mostly the offensive unit has to understand that this is a true competition and whoever steps on the field with them will have earned that job. So that’s why you never heard Coach Heupel or myself saying ‘by this date we’ll announce a guy.’ Someone’s got to take it. Someone’s got to step up and take it, prove it. And there’s multiple ways to do that. Obviously as soon as you can get to that guy and let your guys start rallying behind one person and understanding their skill set and tailoring the offense to them, the better. But we can’t be in a rush to do that because if it doesn’t present itself organically, then you’re just going to be trying to put a square piece in a round hole.”

His expectation for Tennessee offensive tackle Lance Heard, how different he is in year two

“The thing about Lance is he’s shifted from learning the offense, first time in it to being a guy that’s extremely comfortable in it. And now he’s just focusing on his style of play and getting to all the little tricks and the trades of playing oline at a high level in this conference. So we expect him to take a huge jump this year. He’s a very talented young man. He’s got the size, the foot speed, the length, everything that you want in a left tackle. So I’m looking forward to seeing how he takes the field this fall. Completely healthy, ready to go and take that game to the next level.”

What tight end Ethan Davis and wide receiver Chris Brazzell need to do to take their games to the next level

“I think both those guys you talk about are highly, highly talented young men. There’s no doubt about that. Whenever you see them even go through summer/winter workouts, the way they can move and run and jump. The challenge has just been be consistent with it. You can’t flash one day and then come back the next day. We got to be very comfortable when we put you on the field. What’s the product we’re going to get? So for those guys, it’s been about being consistent. They’ve both put two really good off seasons together where we feel very confident with them going into fall camp.”

What Tennessee coaches are looking for to know they’ve found their guy at quarterback

“First and foremost, you got to play this game in this offense with an aggressive nature. I think a lot of times the mistake quarterbacks make in a competition is they try not to lose it. They try just to not make a mistake. We want our guy to walk the line between being extremely aggressive, but not reckless at all. Reckless is just throwing the ball up for grabs. Aggressive is driving the ball into a tight window. 

“So we want our guy to be aggressive, we want him to be smart, and we want him to operate this offense. It’s not just about who throws the football the furthest or the hardest. It’s about who can operate this offense that when we take the field, gives us a chance to win. Whether that’s them carrying the football, them getting to their checkdowns, them making big plays down the field, however it presents to that individual skill set, it’s them doing that at an extremely high level to where we say that’s the guy that gives us the best chance to be a plus one at the end of a football game.”

What Tennessee running backs DeSean Bishop and Peyton Lewis have done to give them confidence the Vols won’t take a step back at that position

“To your point, every year it’s been, how are you going to replace this guy? How are you going to replace this guy? How are you going to replace this guy? It speaks to the scheme that we put in place, but also how these young men work. We’ve got a lot of young talent in that room. Like, they completely reshape their bodies. They look like what they’re supposed to look like taking the field. So we feel like whoever comes on the field for us at the running back position, and as you guys know, it typically hasn’t just been one guy. There’s been a main guy, but there’s two or three guys playing every single ball game that as a group, that team can go out there and we don’t expect the production, and that running back room not from one man, but from that running back room to take a step back at all.”

Having Tennessee quarterbacks who have never been in a quarterback competition

“I actually had that conversation this morning with the guys. It’s how we’re going to go about our business. We all need to be, there’s not enough reps to go around that everybody can get every look they need. So we got to be able to talk about each other’s reps. We got to be able to have conversations in the meeting room, and nobody’s trying to cut the other guy down, and nobody’s getting in their feelings about what we’re talking about, their rep, whether it be positive or negative. If we’ll hold to that and we’ll go about our business understanding that we are going to compete fiercely amongst each other, but the team is still first then we’ll be in a really good spot coming out of fall camp. 

“But to your point, there’s two guys that haven’t done it, and they got to go. And you’ve heard coach Heup say it for almost a year now, the young guys don’t have time to be young. It’s very true in that room. You have to handle your business with maturity like a professional when you step in this building, not just on the field, but in that meeting room as well, with the guys that we have the main goal in mind. Yeah, I’m trying to get on the field, but the team is of the primary importance.”

What Tennessee can do to create more explosive plays this season

“That’s been the entire focus of the offseason. 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.”