Joey Halzle is no stranger to quarterback competitions.
In his sixth spring as Tennessee’s quarterbacks coach and his fourth as offensive coordinator of the Volunteers, Halzle for the third time is helping head coach Josh Heupel determine the team’s most important position. The Vols had a three-year run of knowing “the guy” with Hendon Hooker in 2022, Joe Milton III in 2023 and Nico Iamaleava in 2024, but the latest free-for-all in Knoxville contains redshirt freshman George MacIntyre, five-star early enrollee Faizon Brandon and redshirt junior Ryan Staub, a transfer from Colorado.
Tennessee held its second of 15 spring practices Tuesday, with Heupel having admitted Monday that a starting quarterback would not be named in March or April.
“The biggest thing, and we talked a lot about this before we went into camp, is that you can’t play tight trying not to make a mistake,” Halzle said Tuesday during a press conference that included the quarterbacks. “That’s not how a job is won. You’ve got to cut it loose and play well and play hard.
“You’ve got to show you can make plays while taking care of the football. That’s the biggest thing, because a lot of times guys will try to go one of those ways too hard.”