A former Tennessee Vols assistant expressed some major appreciation for UT head coach Josh Heupel this week.

McKenzie Milton, a former UCF and Florida State quarterback, spent the last two seasons as an offensive analyst at Tennessee.

Milton, who who played at UCF under Scott Frost (2016 t0 2017) and Josh Heupel (2018 to 2020), left Knoxville for Orlando after the 2024 season.

The Hawaii native was hired by Frost to serve as UCF’s quarterbacks coach (Frost returned to UCF as the program’s head coach this past offseason after a difficult run as the head coach at Nebraska).

Milton spent the 2022 season as a member of UCF’s radio broadcast crew. After the 2022 season, Heupel called Milton up and offered him a job on Tennessee’s staff.

The former UCF quarterback told CBS Sports this week that he owes his current coaching opportunity to that call from Heupel.

“I’ve gotta thank Coach Heupel from the bottom of my heart because if he didn’t give me that opportunity up at Tennessee, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to come back to UCF so quickly,” said Milton. “It just speaks volumes, you know, you’ve got to earn respect by the way you carry yourself every day.” 

Milton told reporters in February that he spoke with Heupel before accepting the offer from UCF.

“I told him (Frost) I have to talk to Coach Heupel before anything’s finalized or anything like that,” said Milton. “Just out of the respect I have for Coach Heup, everything he’s done for me and my family. Not just in the profession, just in life, from the time I got hurt. I do believe Coach Frost called Coach Heup prior to offering me the job as well. Just the mutual respect both those guys have for each other and all that.”

“Coach Heup was understanding of me taking this opportunity,” continued Milton. “He actually texted me today, just checking in. Those are two guys that I’m so grateful that I got to experience one as a player, and now getting to work for both of them, I think that’s pretty unique.” 

Milton will be a name for the Vols fans to watch in the future if/when Tennessee has an offensive coordinator or quarterbacks coach opening.

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