Vol Club Confidential: Joey Halzle

Growing up in Southern California, Tennessee offensive coordinator Joey Halzle had big dreams but he never could have imagined the ride football would take him on. From JUCO ball in his home state, to Oklahoma and now being a coach on Rocky Top, the wave has been fun to ride.

“It’s been pretty fun,” Halzle said. “I was Southern California like you said to JUCO ball in Huntington Beach and went out to Norman and enrolled in a record breaking blizzard and I was like what did I get myself into here? I hung around then caught on with Heup and it’s been the best decision I ever made.”

The climb from graduate assistant to quarterbacks coach to now offensive coordinator has been steady and very much a learning experience.

“It’s one of the better parts about working for coach Heupel,” Halzle said. “Everyone has a voice so you aren’t just sitting there in the back of the room taking notes. If you have something worth saying then say it. He not only wants you to but expects you to so you get to build at that at a younger age and it allows you to be more ready when you get to take over a room.”

Heupel is big on promoting from within and his last two staff hires at Tennessee are evidence of that.

“What we do when you watch us is nothing crazy but it’s how we do it,” Halzle said. “That is the insider information if you are teaching someone new it’s a big process. You have to trust that information isn’t going somewhere else in a year or two. He likes to promote guys who have been loyal to him and he trusts them. He knows they are good people and good coaches and it’s easy for him to move them in that role.”

Halzle has watched and learned from Heupel and Alex Golesh. He has picked up on things and he will also want to put his fingerprints on how things go going forward.

“The fun thing about this offense is no matter who is calling it, it’s extremely aggressive,” Halzle said. “You dictate the pace of play and how the defense is going to play you. It’s why we get so many unscouted looks. Defenses are just throwing stuff at a wall to see what sticks.

“I love getting the ball out on the perimeter quickly. Getting it out to our playmakers and you see the splits we play with. We can get space and get it to the right guy in that space.”

Watch the full episode below.

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