Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel discussed what it has been like to watch the growth of quarterback Joe Milton III entering his third season with the Vols.
“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,” Heupel said of Milton III at SEC media days. “Understand that within our scheme, he’s going to have an opportunity to do everything he wants to, which is 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 put 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. 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.”