KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – After an 11-win campaign last fall, Tennessee football has shifted its focus to the 2023 season with offseason workouts underway and the coaching staff gearing up for the start of spring practice next month.
Defensive coordinator Tim Banks, new offensive coordinator Joey Halzle and new tight ends coach Alec Abeln met with the media on Wednesday afternoon. Halzle was promoted last month, and Abeln was elevated from offensive analyst to tight ends coach last week.
Staff continuity has played a vital role for the Volunteers’ success in the Josh Heupel era. Tennessee has retained its defensive staff in both seasons, while two offensive staff members have departed for promotions since last year.
Banks enters his third season with the program, and his unit will feature the most depth it has had going into a spring.
“We talk about compound interest a lot, and obviously the more reps they can get, the better it is for them and the program,” Banks said. “Knowing that those guys should be able to get the lion’s share of reps going into spring can only help the program. We’re excited about that. At this point it seems on paper that we’ll have our lion’s share of guys that will be able to contribute this spring.”
Halzle takes the reins of offensive coordinator after Alex Golesh was named head coach at USF in early December. Halzle has overseen the most productive two-year stretch of quarterback play in school history.
“The Orange Bowl was still us,” Halzle said. “That’s who we are. We’re going to play with tempo. We’re going to go vertical on people. We are going to attack. That isn’t changing. That’s what we said we were going to be the first day we got here. Nothing of that is changing now.”
Tennessee begins spring practice on March 20 with the Orange & White Game set for April 15. Additional details, including a game time, will be announced at a later date.
Below are quotes from Wednesday’s media session:
Tennessee Football Press Conference | Feb. 8, 2023
Defensive Coordinator Tim Banks
On the offseason review process of last season…
“Honestly, we are just deep diving into it. We started Monday, really going back through our cut ups. You try to evaluate, obviously, all the things you thought you did well. Where are the liabilities at? What do we need to get better at? Obviously, there were a lot of great things that went on. You don’t win 11 games without doing a lot of things right, but for us, to continue to move the needle there are some things we obviously have to get better at. We evaluate the personnel based on what we had last year. Now we are starting to look at the personnel we have now. As we continue to dive deeper and deeper into it, we’ll continue to talk about schemes and how we want to adjust based on the personnel that we have coming back. We are in the early stages of it. Right now, we are really just looking at the big plays, the good and the bad. The further we go into it obviously, we will start talking scheme and how we can make some adjustments based on our personnel.”
On how important it is to get pressure on the quarterback with a four-man rush…
“I think it’s everything. Everywhere I have been we have had great success at rushing four. On the (Philadelphia) Eagles – I haven’t seen a lot of NFL football this year, but we have definitely heard (about their great pass rush). We would love to be able to do that. We think we have made some strides. We also understand there is a lot of work yet to be done. We feel like we recruited at a higher level, and we have some young guys coming in here that we hope will be able to help us transition to being able to be more efficient with our four-man packages. I think we will be. But yeah, if we do that, do it at a high level, it just makes everyone else’s job that much easier.”
On the size and length of the players in the secondary…
“In football, bigger is better. Particularly when they can run, and they are athletic. We have a model we work towards. Obviously, we feel like we are starting to address some of those needs. It’s starting to shape into what we are looking for, so to speak. Particularly in this league, wideouts are so big, fast and explosive, you want guys that are long and obviously that can run. Yeah, we definitely are getting bigger back there. Hopefully that will continue to grow back there as well.”
On if he is seeing any physical changes in guys over the offseason…
“Yeah, they are young and eager. You see some of the freshmen that have only been on campus a short time. You can already see their bodies starting to change a little bit. It’s great. It’s the time you grow your program. Coach (Kurt) Schmidt does a great job with his staff putting our guys through their paces and building their mental toughness that you need to be successful along with their bodies. So yeah, I do see a lot of bodies starting to change. Even some of the guys that have been here and are a little bit older, just in terms of their body composition starting to change. Some of the bigger guys are getting a little bit leaner and then obviously some of the older guys that need to get a little bit more bulk. In year two for them, you can start to see it a little bit.”
On if the defense will be deeper and how this offseason has compared to the last two…
“Yeah, well it’s exciting. We had a bunch of guys, particularly in the back end, that were beat up going through spring last year. We just didn’t have them. They were beat up in the fall for the most part before camp started. So, knowing that a lot of those guys will be able to participate is obviously a good thing because you invest. We talk about compound interest a lot, and obviously the more reps they can get, the better it is for them and the program. Knowing that those guys should be able to get the lion’s share of reps going into spring can only help the program. We’re excited about that. Do we have everybody ready to go? You know, we don’t know, but at this point it seems on paper that we’ll have our lion’s share of guys that will be able to contribute this spring.”
On the addition of BYU transfer cornerback Gabe Jeudy-Lally…
“Excited about him. He’s a guy who’s played a lot of football, whether it be at Vanderbilt or BYU. The reality of it is we know we have some steps we need to make at a lot of positions, but the cornerback position is one of those spots. With his experience, we think he can come in here and hopefully compete for one of these jobs and help push those other guys to help these guys continue to grow. So, it’ll be a great opportunity for him, but I think it will also be a great opportunity for everybody involved, getting those guys going. We all know in this business the more competition you have the better it is for the program. He will be another guy who creates some great competition in that role.”
On the addition of Arizona State transfer defensive lineman Omarr Norman-Lott…
“Another guy who has been in the battles, has played at a high level. For us, we talk about our d-line being the tip of the spear, so we just felt like he was a guy that we thought could again, come in and contribute right away and create an environment in that room that is highly competitive. Because again, the better you are up front, as we talked about even from a four-man pass rush or just being stout against the run, we go as our front goes. He will be another guy that will continue to grow up there.”
On this past season’s run defense and how much depth contributed to that…
“I think both things are true. Obviously, those guys did a tremendous job in starting up front with guys being able to control their gaps, and being sound with our linebackers getting downhill, the DBs as well, the safeties are involved as is the corner. It was a collective effort. Philosophically we wanted to do a great job that way and make sure we put guys in predictable situations by eliminating the run game. For the most part, we did a great job of that all season. My hat’s off to all of those guys. For us to continue to grow though, we have to continue to get better at stopping the run but improving against the pass. That is just an area we know we can improve on. We think obviously we will be a lot healthier. We think that will help, but as we talked about earlier, just being able to get home with four guys was obviously a situation that will help everybody, including the back end.”
On how he thinks his philosophy has changed coaching at Tennessee and in the SEC…
“I think you are constantly evolving, and it’s not just conference. It is personnel, what do you have? Then obviously as you start to look at the conference, what are you seeing? Who are the coordinators you’re going against? I think to be able to survive in this profession you have to always be growing, you have to be ready to adapt based on conference, based on scheme and based on players. That’s always been my philosophy, but at the core of it again, you have to be able to take something away. For us, it has always started with the run game. We want to do a great job at stopping the run and putting guys in predictable throwing situations. Once you can dictate the terms, it usually goes well for us and that’s really at the core of who I am.”
On what he likes about BYU transfer linebacker Keenan Pili…
“Once again, he’s played a lot of ball, but the leadership that he has. We had a chance to meet with him and communicate with him, just an awesome guy. Obviously, we know he is a really good football player, but his leadership style and the way he carries himself, I think he will be a really good resource for some of the younger backers in that room and he’ll be someone they can look to get some answers, just kind of being a pro, so to speak. We’re excited about him. Like I said, he’s played a ton of ball and played at a high level, but we’re really excited about his leadership and how he’ll help these young guys really develop and get better.”
On Joey Halzle‘s promotion to offensive coordinator…
“Joey does a great job. He’s very consistent with his approach. Obviously, we have had really good quarterback play here since I have been here, and Joey and I came in together. He is never too high and never too low. He is a guy that has obviously played the position, and he is a rockstar. I think he will do a tremendous job here. I’m one of his biggest fans. Coach (Alex) Golesh obviously did a tremendous here, but we feel really good about the way the direction the offense is headed under his leadership. He’s smart, bright and passionate, and the way he carries himself and the leadership style he has, you can see it in the way our quarterbacks perform week in and week out.”
On what he is prioritizing for the defense in the offseason…
“Just being able to affect the quarterback with four. I think we talked about that a little bit earlier. Just being able to tighten up on the back end, and it’s not just the back end because linebackers are included in that. Making sure when we are in some zone principles that guys are where they need to be consistently. Just like anything, there were a lot of good things that we did in the pass game, but for us to continue to grow, we have to be able to affect the quarterback a little bit better, particularly in some of our four-man concepts, and then we have to be able to hold up, whether we are in man or zone, linebackers and defensive backs included.”
On his excitement and expectations for the freshman class…
“It’s exciting because we have not necessarily worked with them a ton, but from the short time that we have had them, those guys have been exactly what we want to be. Very coachable. The big thing I really like is how competitive these guys are. They want to be good. They understand that there are some opportunities here. They understand the standard that we established last season, and those guys want to be a part of it. For us to continue to grow, not just as a defense but as a team, we have to continue to be hungry, and I think these young freshmen are super hungry. They all want to get out there and prove themselves, you can see it just in their actions. How they are attacking the weight room at this point, the few times that you do have a chance to meet with them, just how eager they are to learn the playbook and learn things that will give them an opportunity to get on the field. It’s exciting, from linebackers to the front to the defensive backs, all those guys are excellent competitors and are excited about getting out there and showing us what they can do.”
On studying and preparing to face new offensive coordinators in the SEC…
“It is probably more schematically, where they are coming from, and then how much of an influence do you feel like the head coach has on what is going to be done. So, it kind of varies a little bit. If the head coach is an offensive guy, you have to believe they are not going to change much. If it is a defensive guy, depending on where it is, that offensive coordinator may have a little more to do with the scheme and how much they start to involve. Would personnel play a factor? I would think so, but overall, I think schematically, you try to look at what they have done at the previous places and try to prepare that way the best you can.”
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach Joey Halzle
On what his main focus is in the spring offensively…
“Overall, as an entire offensive unit, the main thing is that these guys understand that what we were able to accomplish last year does not just happen because you are here and you were the No. 1 offense in the country. You don’t just get to be that next year. Making sure that everybody knows the amount of work that went into that. Remembers the guys that were here last year that did it. You got to remember what you put in to make that happen, and the new guys just got to understand that just because you come into this system, with this group of guys around you, you don’t just get to do what a Jalin Hyatt, or a Cedric Tillman, or a Hendon Hooker did. They put in the work to go earn that. That’s what the main focus for the entire offseason is. We have to start back at square one. Last year’s plays have absolutely nothing to do with next year’s.”
On how he would describe Coach Alec Abeln‘s style…
“Coach Abeln does a great job with scheme. He’s a schemer. He’s always done that, from back at UCF to here now. He’s great in the run-game, he’s great in protections from being on that side of the ball as a player, as well. So, a lot of our run-game this year had his handprints all over it. He’s also an elite teacher of football. Not just a communicator of information, but he can teach at a really, really high level. That’s something that I know Coach Heupel values in this building, having guys that can teach, not just tell you what’s been told to them, but actually teach it and convey it to each person individually.”
On offensive transfers John Campbell and Dont’e Thornton…
“Starting with John Campbell, you have a very large, athletic guy right there. Long arms, big hands, he has everything you want as a tackle. He’ll have a great chance to compete for a bunch of playing time. We got three or four or five really good tackles in that room that can go and play a bunch of ball. Really excited about his athleticism and his experience, he’s played a lot of big-time football. He’s not going to step into any kind of arena that’s too big for him. We’re really excited about what he can bring. With Dont’e (Thornton), really big guy that can run. He’s 6’4-plus, the day he steps on the field he might always be the fastest guy on the field. That guy can really roll. He does a great job of giving you position flexibility with what he has done and his ability to get in and out of breaks. He’s fluid, he can roll over the in-steps, he can do all of that type of stuff. He can read defenses from his time playing college football. He gives you a chance to move him all over the field and create mismatches.”
On what he saw from Joe Milton III’s game film…
“Joe (Milton III) did a great job when he was the backup last year of preparing himself like he was the starter, which is why whenever he came into the game, he played at a really high level. When he moved over to the starter at the end of the year, same type of guy. He didn’t change. He didn’t think he had to be different because he was in the starting role, like ‘hey, I’m a different guy now I change.’ No, he’s still him, he’s still himself moving forward. That’s why you saw him continue to have more and more success from the week one I’ll call it against Vanderbilt to the Orange Bowl. He just kept growing. He doesn’t feel like, ‘I’m an older guy, I got this thing figured out.’ He still attacks his preparation as if he’s a young guy, ‘I want to learn, I want to know everything’ and that’s why you see him make the growth that he’s made.”
On how much Orange Bowl looked like how his role is going to be moving forward…
“The Orange Bowl was still us. That’s who we are. We’re going to play with tempo. We’re going to go vertical on people. We’re going to dictate the pace of play. We’re going to dictate what the defense can and can’t do, when they can sub and when they can’t. The aggression of which we attack, we try and score from all over the field. One of our biggest sayings is it’s really hard to score when you aren’t trying. So we try to score the ball. Whenever we get it, we anticipate crossing the goal line with it. That is who we are. We are going to attack, that isn’t changing. That’s what we are, that’s what we said we were going to be the first day we got here. Nothing of that is changing now.”
On if anything has changed since the Orange Bowl…
“Maybe a little bit. It’s been a little bit of running the room, but the guys in there – it’s been so communal in there from the very beginning. Everybody has a voice in that, now at the end, Coach Heupel and myself has to make the final call, ‘Okay, this is what we’re ending up doing.’ But it’s never been one guy talking and everyone else taking notes. It’s always been extremely conversational, that’s how the whole building is run. As far as that one, it’s been mostly on the recruiting side of now being responsible for the entire offensive side that you’re recruiting, as opposed to making sure you get your position. Having more phone calls to make, more contact to make with kids, when they’re on-campus they have a coordinator meeting. There’s a lot more to it on that side of the spectrum, as opposed to just being in the room and talking ball, which is what we do.”
On what Coach Heupel promoting from within says about his philosophy…
“I think it starts with what Coach Heupel expects from what we call the young coaching staff, the support staff on the side. They are coaches. They know football, they know how to teach, they know how to work, and they know what we do and how to do it at a high level. When he brings them in on the front end, he’s not just hiring helping hands. He wants to hire people that he sees being able to take that next step in the future. It’s not exclusively that way, but I think that’s why you’ve seen that two years in a row, because he’s hired two young guys that he knew were elite at their position and he got to see that first hand for a year on one end, and two years on the other end and knew with a lot of confidence that they’d be able to step in and preform at a high level.”
On where Cameron Seldon will start in the spring…
“He gives you a chance to do some really fun stuff. Obviously, with a young guy that’s first time in the building, you got to be careful to not bog somebody down and overload them with everything you could do. You got to get him good at one thing first. Where he ends up starting out, as we get through our pre-spring stuff before we get on the field for spring ball we’ll make that decision more definitive as we roll based on what he can handle, what he does well, what he doesn’t do well. Then once he gets one thing cemented –okay he’s really good at this – now you can start growing a guy like that’s extra roles. Really whatever they can handle, starting at a young age and moving on through his time throughout the program.”
On Nico Iamaleava practicing with team then going to play in Polynesian Bowl…
“Loved having all these guys here. We basically got another spring ball with them, almost. A lot of them were doing scout team and all that, but being able to sit in meetings, start learning the terminology. He came back this January and he had transferred all of his notes to his iPad that he had. He knows a lot of the way we call stuff, the way we take our drops, all of that when he first got on campus is monumental. Now, you can start going into the details of actually playing the quarterback position because he has a firm understanding of what we’re trying to accomplish when we’re calling plays. He’s young, he’s got to learn, but I thought it was great that he got to go play football with us in December, and then go play more football, and then come back so you’re not two months off your high school career the first time you’re picking up a ball again. I thought that was really beneficial for him. I love when the guys can go play their all-star games, it’s a cool experience for them. It’s something that they’ve earned over their career, we would never take away someone’s ability to go play in an all-star game.”
On having receivers that can play multiple positions…
“That is big. Any time you get skill position players that can create matchup issues, whether that is size on a smaller defensive back or speed on a bigger linebacker, it gives you an ability to create explosive plays in the offense that are outside the realm of what you typically do. If you can put stuff like that on tape, you just become more and more difficult to defend. Your base stuff is still what you do, you have to operate that at a high level, but as soon as you can start saying ‘how do I get this guy on this guy?’ and create a matchup in our favor, now you are working with some stuff that can be some game-changing type situations. What you saw us do with Jalin Hyatt quite a bit last year, getting him on the right body. Not just putting him on the same guy over and over, but we got him on a certain person specifically, and he was able to turn those into touchdowns a lot of the time.”
On the biggest thing he learned working under Alex Golesh…
“The biggest thing from Coach Golesh is he is extremely organized and detailed about how he goes through every aspect of this job. From organizing the staff room, to organizing the unit meeting, to organizing recruiting, everything about that was not just shooting from the hip. Understanding that I probably do not even know everything that I do not know yet, as long as you are detail-oriented and know exactly how you want to go through everything, it gives you a chance to get out ahead of those mistakes that you may make as a first-time coordinator. Saying ‘Man, I did not see that one coming.’ So, learning from him has been really big-time as far as making sure you have all your ducks in a row and that you are ready to go, because the meeting is going to roll as you roll now.”
On the third quarterback role…
“They (Gaston Moore and Navy Shuler) are going to have a chance to this spring, absolutely. With the transfer portal, you never know who is coming in and out of your building anymore. So, do you have to be always evaluating? Yes, absolutely, but we really like the guys in that room. We have good players, we have good people that are smart and competitive and tough, and that is how we are trying to build that room. So, [I] do not see a pressing need, but it could absolutely be one at some point. So, I am not going to sit here and say yes or no at this point.”
On finding out how he was promoted to offensive coordinator…
“[Coach Heupel] called me and said ‘Are you ready?’ I said ‘Yes, sir,’ and he said ‘Okay.’ That was kind of the end of that one. It has been fun moving up, because I have been with Coach Heupel my whole career, and I think, for a lot of young coaches, it is hard to get out of that view as a support staff type guy. Getting moved into my first position job, getting brought here, and then getting bumped up to coordinator. He sees that I am doing it the right way and the way that he wants it done, and he sees that I can be a benefit to the program because if he did not see it that way, it would not have happened. He was not just doing it just to do it. That was the biggest thing, he is instilling the confidence without having to give you a pep talk, because he understands that this was the best thing for the program, in his opinion.”
On Nico Iamaleava getting reps…
“With the numbers in that room, there are a lot of reps to go around, which is completely different from the last couple of years that we were here. It is huge. The biggest thing about freshmen getting here, whether it is December for bowl practice or in spring ball, is they get a chance to mess it up. They are going to, I have told them that. ‘You are going to mess it up, do not play timid, do not play slow trying to be right, play fast as you can, rip it all over the field, make your mistakes, we will come into the film room and learn from them, and we will go back out there and try to make less each day as we are moving forward.’ It gives you the chance that, when fall camp comes around, they are not trying to figure out what to do, they have run all of this before, they have seen all of these different defensive looks, and now they are finding themselves as a player and how they operate in the system, which now gives you a chance to actually go operate with live fire in the fall.”
Tight Ends Coach Alec Abeln
On his promotion to tight ends coach…
“It means the world to me. Obviously, I’ve been in the building since Coach Heupel got here. Found out, kind of officially, Thursday morning. I still knew that there were still some steps to work through, and by Friday morning it was a done deal.”
On the importance of recruiting a balanced tight end prospect…
“I think with what we do, obviously we do not sub a whole lot so, [they] have to be able to do a bunch of different roles. They have to be a threat in the passing game. They have to get you off the field on third downs. They have to be able to run block. Obviously (want) a guy that can do all of it. (McCallan Castles) is a guy who can do all of those things, and we are really excited that he is here.”
On his philosophy and developing his strength of knowledge in run the game…
“I think how I got developed starts with Coach Heupel. Just whole program belief for coaches that you are in here for a reason. If you have an idea and if you have a way we can do things better, I don’t care if you are a GA, don’t care if you are a student assistant. I want your input. As a group, there is no ego. We want to try and find the best solution to do everything. I think growing up in a program and a coaching staff like that is what has allowed me to have the kind of success that I have had. As far as philosophy, not much is going to change. We are going to play fast. We are going to run the ball downhill. Be physical. Finish. All of those things are going to stay the same.”
On his connection with Coach Heupel…
“I have told recruits this, and I have told guys on the radio this as well. I vividly remember being 20 years old, him walking into that team room for the first time and thinking, this dude is different. This dude is a winner. I think at that point, we were as bad as it gets offensively, like 125 out of 128. The very first question he asked me was how much do I weigh, and it was not enough. There was a belief and an expectation of just because this is how things have been, does not mean that that is how things are going to be. We have what it takes to be successful, but it will take everything you have. To me, right away as I knew as a young coach, had an opportunity to stay at my alma mater for one year as a GA. Ultimately, it was really easy for me to go down to Central Florida, just because [I] knew that that is who I wanted to be with and who I wanted to grow from.”
On Jacob Warren returning next season…
“I can’t say enough about Jay. Honestly, he is going to be more of a collaborator than a student in a lot of ways. He has a ton of input. Super smart, does everything the right way. I am really grateful he came back and excited to see him take steps this year.”
On how excited he is to work with this season’s tight end group…
“It makes my job easy when you have guys that can do it all. To be honest with you, we need to get them involved more and find more ways to get the ball in their hands. I know Princeton (Fant) gave you some things that were really unique, and I think we’ll continue to see more of that as we go forward.”
On what makes him an effective teacher…
“One, I’ve been taught by good teachers. Glen Elarbee was my position coach for two years in college, and that’s definitely a huge part of it. I love seeing how different guys learn. We’ll hit auditory, visual and all the bullet points of it. At the end of the day, it comes down to knowing the why, and making the why make sense for a guy. We play so fast that you’re not always going to have somebody tell you exactly what to do. Being able to understand what we’re trying to do big-picture really allows you to problem-solve out there. To me, that’s what really fires me up—especially this time of the year, with mid-years and young guys where it’s their first time getting real football. The fireworks and all the light bulbs go off, and it’s really exciting.”
On Kelsey Pope making the same transition from offensive analyst to position coach, and the advice that he’s received from him…
“Coach Pope is a great football coach and a great friend. He’s helped me a ton through the first week and is definitely a guy I’ll be leaning on, not just this year, but my whole career.”
On what he’s seen from Freshman Ethan Davis…
“I love Ethan. He’s a guy that’s athletically a mismatch for people. He allows us to do exactly what we want to do – in terms of playing really fast, physical, being a mismatch in space but also being able to stick your face in it and go get after some people.”
On what the message is when Heupel promotes guys from within the program…
“To me, it gives me confidence. There’s a lot of people that would like to be standing here right now, and there is a lot of people qualified to be standing here right now. To me, it’s a belief that I’m the right guy for a reason. There’s a lot of reasons why you could say to go out-of-house or go outside, but at the end of the day, betting on me as a person and knowing that we’re going to continue to have success.”
On the difference the job brings as far as recruiting…
“Being out on the road is really the biggest difference. The way recruiting rules have been the past couple of years, we are able to be super involved, but right now we’re dead. For me, it’s not a whole lot different than what it’s been the last few Februarys where you’re still trying to get guys on the phone, talking and building relationships that way. I am really excited to go on the road, get to meet high school coaches, sit down in some living rooms and be on that end of it.”
On what makes the offense works…
“I don’t know if it’s necessarily a secret, but what we do works and that’s a part of the success. At the end of the day, it comes down to the guys being able to execute it. There’s no magic play, it’s really what those guys are able to do on Saturday.”
-UT Athletics
