Tennessee coach Josh Heupel doesn’t say very much in public settings. In fact, take what he says with a grain salt. However, there were some interesting tidbits from his opening comments of spring practice that caught my ear.
Let’s start with quarterback Nico Iamaleava. The sophomore was considered a lock to leave school early and head to the NFL after his third season at Tennessee. However, last season was considered by many a disappointment. I don’t adhere to that. In fact, considering his lack of experience, I think he played pretty well.
Iamaleava took on a ship that was much more experienced than he was. Why? Well, he should have played more in 2023, but that’s a conversation for another day. Now, Iamaleava has to be more than he was in 2024. He has to be ready – and I’m not referring to throwing or running.
“That leadership role, it’s not just verbally,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said when he began practice at his press conference. “It’s how you’re accelerating the mindset and the growth of guys around you. So all those things play into what he has been working on and what he’s got to continue to do throughout the course of the offseason.”
Frankly, that scares me a bit. Iamaleava seems more like the quiet leader, which isn’t a great thing at the quarterback position. Heupel wants more, such as the “voluntary” workouts that former Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning held during his time as a Vol. Iamaleava’s success – or lack thereof – could depend on what he does within his helmet and not his physical ability.
“Command and control of what we’re doing offensively, better with his eyes, fundamental position to be accurate with the football, leadership,” Heupel said when asked what Iamaleava needed to improve upon, which is a lot. “It’s the checklist of playing the quarterback position, all of those things. He’s got a chance to continue to get better…As a quarterback, a big part of your job is creating urgency for the 10 guys around you to play at a really high level, too.”
Can Iamaleava do that? I’m not so sure. However, I know he’ll have to do so for Tennessee to be successful. Perhaps all that is possible. Still, the notion that he hadn’t improved his game until the second part of last season is troubling. And even then he was far from perfect as far as mastering the fine skills of playing quarterback.
“This is the beginning stages for a young quarterback. Recognizing signals, how to communicate, outside the line of scrimmage when we’re in tempo, dead-ball situations, the huddle, the sideline, learning how to control and command all of those things.
“You work on that in the lead-up, but once you get helmets on and we’re out on the grass, it’s a little bit different. Today he did a really good job understanding structure of defense, where are you taking your eyes? So that’s pre-snap, post-snap. And then your fundamentals, got to play into being consistent, giving yourself a chance to be accurate with the football once you make a sound decision. Man, I just listed off a lot of things that got to happen. It’s Day 1. I like what he did today, but there’s going to be a lot of growth here through spring ball.”
If Iamaleava is going to be successful this season, he’ll have to lean on some young players, namely whomever replaces center Cooper Mays, who is off to the NFL. Mays handled many of the line calls and kept Iamaleava out of trouble more times than not. Now, Iamaleava will assume more of those duties as the Vols will have to depend on a new center.
“Coop has done a really good job for a really long time here,” Heupel said. “ We were fortunate to have him for a while, but we got a lot of guys that we have great belief in. They’ve to continue to grow as players, but a ton of competition at that position as well.
“It’ll be multiple guys that are putting their hands on the ball and playing the center spot, but you know, I think there’s really good competition at all the spots that we’re continuing to grow inside of that room.”
Competition at center? Shouldn’t Heupel already have his backup center in place. After all, this is Heupel’s fifth season.
By all accounts, the Vols will also have to depend on sophomore receiver Mike Matthews. Sure, we know plenty about junior transfer Chris Brazzell, but Matthews is the X-Factor that can get the Vols’ offense rolling. That wasn’t the case last season despite multiple injuries to the receive position. Why wasn’t Matthews ready? Minor injuries were a factor. Still, he played in 11 games but only caught seven receptions for 90 yards. Will he be ready this fall?
“Mike’s had a really good offseason, just physically continuing to grow into his frame,” Heupel said. “You know, he’s as healthy as he’s been right now (in) a long time. Just during the course of the fall, kind of got nicked up early, late in the summer. Kind of re-injured himself a little bit in training camp and you know, kind of fought through the injury.
“In year two for him, growth of control in his mind, how he approaches everything every day. He has really matured in a really good way. I’m excited about what he’s done up until this point in the offseason, but really like what he did today on the practice field. We have high hopes and expectations for him.”
Those hopes had better come to fruition. Iamaleava – like any player – can’t do it all on his own.
