CHEEZ-IT CITRUS BOWL: IOWA VS TENNESSEE

December 29, 2023

Joey Halzle

Cooper Mays

Camping World Stadium

Tennessee Volunteers

Press Conference

JOEY HALZLE: Yeah, real quick before we go to questions. I can speak for the whole offense, really glad to be out here in the great City of Orlando. Obviously, for a lot of us, it is very familiar. Spent a lot of time here, and man, to be back in the Citrus Bowl, we all agree, it is a first-class organization all the way. Great Bowl. Great experience. Absolutely, top flight from this whole crew.

We are honored to be here, proud to be a part of it and looking forward to going and playing in a great game on the first.

Q. Seeing Iowa's defense all year, what do you see from Iowa's defense that perhaps makes this a different type of challenge than you've seen this year?

JOEY HALZLE: Yeah, Iowa, obviously, you can see on tape, extremely well-coached. They play extremely physical. They tackle well in space. They scheme well. They are just a very sound, solid, strong defense from top to bottom. You see a lot of physical play up front, especially from their defensive line, their linebackers, they like to play physically, get their hands on people. They shed blocks. There is a reason their defensive numbers are the way they are. It is all the way to the back end.

Q. Considering how good this defense is and Nico has not had a start before, where on the spectrum of, like, cautious to aggressive do you think Nico should be, and what are you telling him to be in that spectrum?

JOEY HALZLE: Yeah, it is not a tune-up game for a starter. This is a kid making his first start against one of the best defenses in all of college football.

I do not think you can go into it thinking differently. You have to go take what is there, whatever they are presenting to it, you have to go take advantage of it. You are still going to have to push the ball down the field. You are going to have to take check downs when they present. We are going to have to run the football well.

Football is still football at the end of the game. We have to block well. We have to tackle well. We have to catch, throw. We have to do all that type of stuff.

To do all of that, then, you are inserting a freshman quarterback in on top of this, where he has to manage the game. He has got to understand situational football, when to take the risk, when to not, all of that, when to scramble, when is a throwaway a good thing, when is an incompletion a positive. All of those type of thoughts for a young quarterback is what I think you see young guys when they are making their first start get in trouble in sometimes.

Now, he does not handle himself like a young guy, so really confident in that. I think he is prepared well. I think he is ready to go, so looking forward to seeing what he has on the first.

Q. How many practices and snaps have you taken with Nico and what has the transition been like?

COOPER MAYS: He has been the guy all throughout Bowl prep. He has done well for himself. Like Coach said, he does not really handle himself like a young guy. We have had a few weeks here to gel and come up and give him a chance to get ready for the game. He has done a really good job, and he has done the best he can with it.

Q. What can you say about Joe Milton's tenure as a Tennessee quarterback, including staying with you guys and helping Nico through the Bowl?

JOEY HALZLE: Yeah, man, what that guy has done for three years for us has been awesome. Like, obviously, to come in and go through what he did, getting injured and, then, obviously, when Hendon stepped in and started playing the way he did. Like sticking around, and not only not being a negative draw on the team, but being a positive influence to it – waiting his time and then stepping in and getting the full-time starter role.

Now he is leaving on his way out, doing everything he can to make sure that Nico is as prepared and as ready as he can, giving him insight. I cannot say enough positive things about that guy, man. He has been a great, what a VFL stands for; that is what I can say about him. He is just a big-time guy. Good character. Great, great ball for us, and I think the Tennessee fan base should be really appreciative of his three years here at the university.

Q. What stood out about Cam's development from the beginning of the season until now?

JOEY HALZLE: Yeah, what has been great to see about Cam is he was at a school where he played everything in high school. He was playing quarterback, defensive end, running back, returning kicks, doing all that stuff.

It has been great to see him turn into what I call like an actual running back, meaning his understanding of protection, his understanding of I can not just grab the ball and run really fast. I have to let these guys up front set up blocks. I have to pace things. I have to press holes. I have to do all that different kind of stuff.

It has been awesome to see him not just want to be the big, athletic kid that wants to run fast, but embrace, okay, how do I become a complete and total back.

We have a ton of confidence going into this ballgame that he will be able to step in and perform at a high level.

Now, you lose two guys that have been extremely productive in the SEC for three years. I am not going to act like that is just a plug and place all the time, but if there is a young kid that can come in and handle it mentally and physically, it's Cam.

Q. There's a lot of attrition with the offense this time of year. What's it been like for you, Joey, trying to get everything organized for the Bowl game, and then Cooper from a leadership standpoint, kind of every position having attrition, how are you trying to lead the guys through this as well?

JOEY HALZLE: I think on the front end a lot of it is like, all right, who are we actually playing with. That is what the big, big thing you are getting to now in Bowl games. When you are starting your game week prep, plays are great, scheme is great, but the players matter more, so who are we actually playing with.

As you get down to it, you realize these are the guys we have and how do we put these guys in the best position to go be successful.

That is the main thing in Bowl season, what that has become, is with the opt outs and the transfer portal and all that stuff, who are the 11 that we are rolling out there with. Okay, these are our guys, now let us put them in the best position to be successful.

COOPER MAYS: For the leadership part, nothing really changes. The standards are going to remain the standards long after whoever is gone. Just rising to the standard and doing stuff the right way, handling yourself like a man, being there on time, doing stuff the right way, making plays. That is what we are here to do, and that is what we have been taught. So nothing is going to change based off who is there, who is not there.

Q. Joey, a year ago at this time you had become the offensive coordinator, and I know you had been in the offense a long time but where have you seen yourself grow personally in that role last year at this point to now?

JOEY HALZLE: Yeah, I think last year at this point, it was just trying to figure out the right way to go about everything, trying to figure out how do I work into this.

Now, as I feel I am more comfortable in it after a full year of doing it. I have my routine. I know how I need to operate in a day-to-day to make sure I am as prepared as I need to be on game day to give this team the best chance to go be more successful.

It is morphing from trying to figure it out, make sure I do not screw something up. To, okay, this is my routine, this is what I need to do to be successful, this is how I need to prepare to feel prepared on game day and really taking that step as far as the day-to-day of how I operate with the team, staff and quarterback room, too.

Q. Joey, from your vantage point, working with Nico for a full year now, where is one spot or a couple aspects of his game that have taken the biggest jump from your vantage point?

JOEY HALZLE: In his defensive recognition, he really dug into that. A lot of freshmen quarterbacks are like, cool, teach me the plays and I will figure it out. He really wanted to dive into, all right, how do I judge a defense, what am I getting as far as tips and how do I know when I'm getting pressure, when am I hot, when am I not.

He has really dug into that. Like I said at the beginning, not like most true freshmen handle themselves. He was big into that side of it.

Mechanically, when someone comes in as highly touted as he was, a lot of times, they feel like they are finished products. He was not. He wanted to come in and be like, all right, what do I need to do to take my physical game to the next level as well.

He came in and was completely open with tinkering with the mechanics, his lower body, all of that. That is why I think he has made the growth that he has and why I think the guys out there with him have the confidence that he will go perform at a high level when he is called upon.

Q. Every quarterback has the routes and plays and protections they are most comfortable with. Nico, I'm sure his list is a little different. Have you had that conversation with him this week of what he's most comfortable in, or did you sort of already know that before you got here?

JOEY HALZLE: Yes, did we have -- last week or the week before the first week of the Bowl prep, treated it like a true game week, like we are ready to play when we break for Christmas.

We had the whole conversation of what are you most comfortable with on third downs, what are you most comfortable with in the tight zone, what are you most comfortable with as your first normal down calls. All of that has been talked about.

You feel like, but until a guy has a full week of prep, as the guy. I don't think they really know. They are kind of following, like, man, I actually am not comfortable with this, I am extremely comfortable with that.

As we work through that together, that has been a good working relationship. As a freshman, not being on the scout team, but being as a two all year, you have a little bit better understanding. Until a guy goes through an entire prep as the guy, they do not even really know themselves.

Q. What has Squirrel White meant to this offense this year and what's ahead for him?

JOEY HALZLE: Yeah, Squirrel, he is just an explosive play waiting to happen. That has been one of the biggest things for him is he has legit 10.4 track speed out there. You put guys like that on a bunch of grass and you let them go run really fast, cool stuff happens.

He is been the guy we can rely on to be, all right, we need to go take the top off of this right now, we need to go stretch the defense. Squirrel is a guy that can go out there and do it on any given down, any given snap.

He has been a big, crucial part of this offense.

Q. Without giving away the game plan, what are the challenges of tailoring things for Nico as opposed to what you would normally do for Joe?

JOEY HALZLE: I think it still starts with what defensively makes sense, you know what I mean? That is where it has to start. It cannot be like we have a freshman quarterback so we are not going to do this.

Yeah, you have to be smart about the positions you put him in. You do not want to put him in any negative spots where you are like, yeah, this might be a bad play, but let's see if he can get us out of it. That is not a process you go into with.

It still has to all start with what actually makes sense scheme-wise and then let us start refining it to what he is the most comfortable with.