Tennessee officially avoided a coaching staff situation that would’ve potentially been a major problem for the Vols
The Tennessee Vols avoid a coaching staff situation that would’ve been a big negative for the program.
The excitement of signing day this week mostly overshadowed what could have been a disastrous scenario for the Tennessee Vols.
Vols offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle was mentioned earlier this week as one of the top options to join Jon Sumrall’s coaching staff at Florida.
Sumrall was hired this week to replace Billy Napier as the Gators’ head coach, and he said he wants to bring an “explosive offense” to Gainesville.
Florida hires offensive coordinator Buster Faulker away from Georgia Tech
On3 reported on Thursday that Florida is hiring Buster Faulker away from Georgia Tech to serve as the program’s new offensive coordinator.
“Jon Sumrall and the Florida Gators have found their offensive coordinator. Per Pete Nakos and Chris Low of On3, it will be Buster Faulkner of Georgia Tech,” noted On3’s Keith Niebuhr. “Through our reporting, Gators Online identified three primary candidates via multiple sources earlier this week: Faulkner, Kade Bell of Pittsburgh and Joey Halzle of Tennessee. But it was always believed Faulkner, who has had great success with the Yellow Jackets, was the No. 1 target.”
Losing Halzle to the Gators would’ve been a tough blow for the Vols. For starters, I felt Halzle took a step forward as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator in 2025. While it’s still unclear exactly how the play-calling process works at Tennessee, there’s no doubt that the Vols’ offense was more dynamic in 2025 than it was the last two seasons. And that’s impressive considering Tennessee started a quarterback that arrived on campus in May and had four new starters on the offensive line. The Vols also featured a significant amount of youth at wide receiver, and they had to replace running back Dylan Sampson, the SEC offensive player of the year in 2024.
Halzle, who is a Broyles Award nominee, has also been terrific on the recruiting trail as he played a key role in Tennessee landing 2026 five-star quarterback Faizon Brandon.
Keeping Halzle away from the Gators is a big win for the Vols. Halzle, however, isn’t under contract with Tennessee beyond this season, so the Vols still need to iron out an extension with the longtime assistant coach.
Tennessee Volunteers News
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