Vols OC Joey Halzle on Dont’e Thornton: ‘He has freaky talent’
The speed that Dont’e Thornton brings at wide receiver, combined with his 6-foot-5, 214-pound frame left Tennessee offensive coordinator Joey Halzle with one word to describe him during media day on Tuesday.
“To use the word,” Halzle said, “he has freaky talent. A guy that has size, that can run like that, is rare. He is rare. There are good players and then there are guys that have rare traits like that.”
Freaky talent is exactly what Halzle and his offensive coaching staff are hoping Thornton shows off after he transferred from Oregon to Tennessee in January.
He was ranked as the No. 5 overall player in the NCAA Transfer Portal this offseason, according to the On3 rankings, and was far and away the biggest named the Vols pulled in from the transfer market.
‘That guy is extremely rare at what he can do’
“That guy is extremely rare at what he can do on a football field,” said Halzle, who was promoted in January from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator. “And yeah, whenever we come in, it’s completely different than what most people do. There’s a learning curve. He’s done a great job.”
Thronton’s attempt at flattening that curve was to be his quarterback’s shadow. Wherever Joe Milton III was this offseason, Thornton usually wasn’t far behind and was usually asking every question he could think of.
“He spends as much time with the quarterbacks as anybody,” Halzle said. “He’s always with Joe as well, like, alright, how do you want that? How do you see that? Like you see it the way I’m seeing it?
“So he’s once again, (he’s) not an older guy that’s coming in like I got it, kind of trying to be a mercenary. He’s trying to learn too and trying to do it the way we do it. Really happy with where he’s at now.”
Dont’e Thornton in 15 games at Oregon: 26 catches, 541 yards, 3 TDs
Thornton, a Baltimore, Maryland, native, caught 26 passes for 541 yards and three touchdowns in 15 games at Oregon over the last two seasons. Last year he had 17 catches for 366 yards and a touchdown in 11 games.
Tennessee is overhauling its wide receiver group this season after the NFL departures of Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman, adding Thornton to a group that is now headlined by the likes of Bru McCoy, Ramel Keyton and Squirrel White.
“(Thornton) spent a lot of time (in the offseason) understanding,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said during his press conference on Tuesday, “trying to grow inside of our offense really quickly. Looking forward to seeing him this fall. There’s great competition (at wide receiver). Some flexibility at the wide receiver spot. Looking forward (to seeing that) during the course of training camp.”
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