Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel announced earlier this month that quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle was promoted to offensive coordinator, replacing Alex Golesh who left UT in December to become the new head coach at USF.

The move to promote Halzle didn't come as a surprise. As soon as Golesh landed the USF job, the expectation was that Halzle would be promoted.

Halzle, after all, has been with Josh Heupel since the mid-2000s at Oklahoma (when Halzle was a player and Heupel was the Sooners' quarterbacks coach). He knows Heupel's system as well as anyone.

And when it comes to Heupel's system, continuity is extremely important. When an offense moves that fast, everyone has to be on the same page at all times. One moment of miscommunication could lead to disaster.

That's why I think Heupel might already know who his next offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach after Halzle will be.

If things go well for Halzle as Tennessee's offensive coordinator, it won't be long before he's getting head coach offers. I'd say the Vols have at most three to four seasons with Halzle in this role before another program offers him a head coaching job.

The good news for Vols fans is that Halzle's successor is likely already on staff.

Current offensive analyst Mitch Militello appears to be on the path to becoming Heupel's next right hand man.

Militello currently works with quarterbacks at Tennessee. Outgoing Vols quarterback Hendon Hooker, in fact, even mentioned Militello during an interview with ESPN in the second quarter of the Orange Bowl.

"He's (Heupel) a great teacher and he surrounds us with other great teachers [in] Coach Halzle and Mitch Militello," said Hooker to ESPN during the Orange Bowl. "So really just them teaching us and us being attentive and learning day in and day out has helped us succeed."

Militello hasn't been with Heupel quite as long as Halzle, but he's still been with him for over half a decade. Militello was with Heupel as a student assistant at Missouri. He then followed Heupel to UCF where he served as a graduate assistant. Militello came to Knoxville in early 2021 when Tennessee hired Heupel to replace Jeremy Pruitt.

Heupel was asked about Militello (and offensive analyst Alec Abeln) last season and his comments indicated that the continuity he helps provide is important to Tennessee's success.

“For us, two guys that have been with me for a long time, Mitch being a student assistant and Alec having played for me,” said Heupel in late 2021 (via Vols Wire). “Having a great understanding of the culture you are trying to build inside the program.”

“Great competitors, just who they are and the energy they bring inside the building every day, and their ability to be cohesive with us is really important," added Heupel. "Two great young coaches.”

When Halzle eventually becomes a head coach, it would make sense for Militello to slide into that role under Heupel. Militello is going to know Heupel's offensive system as well as anyone that could be hired by Tennessee, so why not just promote a known commodity that's already with the program?

This is a situation that won't come into play for at least a couple of years, but it still has to be reassuring to Vols fans that Heupel likely already has a successor for Halzle lined up.

Featured image via Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK