Former Vols offensive lineman shares thoughts on differences in Tennessee’s play-calling under Alex Golesh and Joey Halzle

A significant topic of discussion surrounding Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel over the last year has centered on whether he should relinquish play-calling duties. It’s been 12 years since a head coach who called his own plays won a national championship (Jimbo Fisher at Florida State in 2013). In the current era of college […]

Zach Ragan — Tennessee Volunteers News Writer
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A significant topic of discussion surrounding Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel over the last year has centered on whether he should relinquish play-calling duties.

It’s been 12 years since a head coach who called his own plays won a national championship (Jimbo Fisher at Florida State in 2013).

In the current era of college football, there’s more on a head coach’s plate than ever. And many offensive-minded coaches — including Ohio State’s Ryan Day — are giving up play-calling duties to focus more on being the “CEO” of the team. Day gave up play-calling duties before Ohio State’s national championship run last season.

It was evident near the end of the Vols’ loss to Oklahoma — when Heupel lost track of a rule involving the clock — that Tennessee’s head coach would benefit from handing off play-calling duties to someone else so he can fully focus on being a game day manager.

Former Vols offensive lineman shares thoughts on differences in Tennessee’s play-calling under Alex Golesh and Joey Halzle

Alex Golesh served as the Vols’ offensive coordinator in 2021 and 2022.

Those were Tennessee’s two most dynamic seasons offensively under Heupel. The Vols, in general, seemed to operate more efficiently when Golesh was in the press box calling plays.

I think that’s largely because Golesh had more autonomy in the play-calling process.

“Our relationship (Heupel and Golesh’s) was really good because there was no ego,” said Golesh after taking the USF head coaching job. “There was a complete trust in each other. And when he turned over the play-calling to me, I think for him, it was a level of trust that he showed in me. I think I earned that trust. There’s no time to talk in between plays. So generally I would get, if it was good, like a ‘hell yeah’ or if it was bad, a “what are you doing?’ But the relationship was awesome.”

Quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle was promoted to offensive coordinator following Golesh’s departure. It’s Heupel, however, that serves as Tennessee’s primary play-caller in the post-Golesh era.

Former Vols offensive lineman Ollie Lane, who played at Tennessee from 2018 to 2023, shared some thoughts this week on The Sports Source on Golesh and Halzle as offensive coordinators.

Lane, who played two seasons at Tennessee with Golesh as the offensive coordinator and one season with Halzle as the offensive coordinator, noted that Golesh was usually several plays ahead during games.

“Golesh, when I played for him, he was a very good leader for me,” said Lane. “And that’s not to say anything bad about Coach Halzle. Coach Halzle was a good leader, too. But it was just the way that [Golesh] led things. And then I knew the way that he would operate in the box. It was, ‘Hey, I’ve got this play ready to go for you, coach.’ And we haven’t even ran the play that we’re on right now.

“I feel like at some point, Heupel would be like, ‘What do you want to go to here? What do you think is good?’ And [Golesh] would give him a play to go to. I don’t know how much that really goes [on with Halzle]. I feel like it’s more of, ‘Coach, what do you want to do here?’”

Former Vols defensive lineman Marlon Walls added that he thinks Heupel has “too much to think about” on game days.

Heupel is obviously very involved in Tennessee’s offense, and I don’t think anyone believes that needs to change. But for Heupel to be at his best as a head coach on game days, he needs to find someone he trusts — whether that’s Halzle or someone else — who can take over play-calling duties. Otherwise, we’ll continue to see the same late-game coaching mistakes that have continually popped up this season.

This article was originally published on A to Z Sports Tennessee Vols as Former Vols offensive lineman shares thoughts on differences in Tennessee’s play-calling under Alex Golesh and Joey Halzle.

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