The Tennessee Vols held their first spring practice on Monday, which signaled the unofficial start of the 2023 UT football team's journey. 

With Hendon Hooker off to the NFL after exhausting his collegiate eligibility, Tennessee will turn to Joe Milton as its starting quarterback. 

Milton, a Michigan transfer who is entering his third season at Tennessee, will be backed up by five-star true freshman Nico Iamaleava. 

While the 2023 Vols are Milton's team, there's plenty of hype surrounding Iamaleava.

And for good reason. 

Iamaleava is still in the infant stages of his football career, but he's already "as advertised" when it comes to his demeanor, leadership abilities, and work habits. 

As you can imagine, there's already some talk about whether or not Nico will pass Milton on the depth chart at some point. 

While we don't know how the 2023 season will play out, I wouldn't bet on Iamaleava passing Milton this season based on what Vols head coach Josh Heupel said on Monday. 

Heupel admitted there will be competition at "every position", but he made it clear that he thinks Milton will play at an elite level in 2023. 

"I believe Joe will be ready to play at an elite level," said Heupel on Monday. "There’s competition at every position. I’ve said that from the time that I’ve got here. I don’t care how you were recruited, if you were a walk-on or not, you started a game a year ago. It doesn’t matter. It’s about who you are today. And that’s why you’ve got to be very competitive in everything that you’re doing, intentional in the way that you work. [I] believe Joe will be ready to play at a high level, but there’s going to be competition everywhere.”

You can tell that Heupel stresses competition — everything at Tennessee is earned under Heupel. But he also strongly believes in Milton. 

And why shouldn't he? 

Milton looked like a potential Heisman Trophy candidate during the Vols' convincing win against Clemson in the Orange Bowl. He also looked great during the chances he got during the regular season in 2022. 

There's no doubt that Nico is the future at Tennessee. But Milton is going to have a chance to leave his mark on the UT football program in 2023. And it certainly sounds like he's ready to step up in an elite way.