Tennessee offensive coordinator speaks on bond between QBs Joe Milton and Nico Iamaleava
The close friendship between former Tennessee Vols quarterback Hendon Hooker and current UT starting quarterback Joe Milton has been well documented. Despite competing with each other, Milton and Hooker became best friends and roommates, as well as each other's biggest fans. Hooker is now off to the NFL and Milton is the guy for the […]
The close friendship between former Tennessee Vols quarterback Hendon Hooker and current UT starting quarterback Joe Milton has been well documented.
Despite competing with each other, Milton and Hooker became best friends and roommates, as well as each other's biggest fans.
Hooker is now off to the NFL and Milton is the guy for the Vols. True freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava, a former five-star recruit, will step into the backup role that Milton held last season.
And it sounds like the relationship between Milton and Iamaleava is going to be a lot like that relationship was between Hooker and Milton.
Vols offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle was asked on Tuesday about the bond that's being developed between Milton and Iamaleava.
"They're already extremely close," said Halzle. "I think Nico getting here in December and having those 15 bowl practices and then coming to the bowl site, where he just got to be around the guys — he was new, so they didn't really know him — but he just got to be around. Everyone got to be like 'I like this guy, he's a good dude, he's just a normal kid'. And now it's almost like a big brother/little brother relationship with the two of them. You rarely see Joe without Nico. So it's been great for him (Nico) to kind of see the way a quarterback should operate on a day to day level. Joe has been a great mentor to him and he's really helping bring along his development on and off the field."
There are a couple of good takeaways from Halzle's comments about Milton and Iamaleava. For starters, it shows that Tennessee's incredible culture in their quarterback is sustainable. It's essentially a situation where Milton will pass along that supportive mindset to Iamaleava. And then Iamaleava will pass it on to the next guy (2024 four-star quarterback Jake Merklinger).
Secondly, if Nico and Milton share a similar bond as Hooker and Milton shared, then it's just going to make the quarterback room that much stronger. It's going to make Milton and Iamaleava better players because they'll be able to help each other see things that maybe the other one wouldn't otherwise see. Competition breeds greatness isn't just a cliché — it's one of the ultimate truths in sports.
Things really couldn't be any better offensively for the Vols right now with Milton, Nico, and Halzle working together with their main objective being to put as many points on the scoreboard as possible.
Comments from former Alabama star show that Bama’s offense doesn’t fully prepare players for the NFL
Comments from a former Alabama star show that Bama’s offense doesn’t fully prepare players for the NFL
Featured image via Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
