UT Athletics Director Danny White said he was thrilled when Tennessee football head coach Josh Heupel promoted Joey Halzle to offensive coordinator to replace Alex Golesh (now head coach at South Florida).
“I think it’s a positive sign of a strong culture,” White said recently on SportsTalk WNML radio.
White said the athletic department had a staff meeting last week and talked about the value of promoting from within “whenever possible.”
“You can’t always do that,” White said. “It doesn’t always make the most sense. Not always the right decision for the organization. But when possible, it shows things are really in a positive place with a great chemistry and we’re developing people.”
Halze has served as Tennessee’s quarterbacks coach the past two years, helping develop Hendon Hooker and helping UT’s offense lead the nation in scoring and total offense.
A former Oklahoma quarterback, Halzle has been with Heupel for more than a dozen years at various schools. The only exceptions were 2017 and 2018, when he worked in the private sector.
“When Josh told me that’s what he wanted to do, I was thrilled,” White said of promoting Halzle. “It’s a great message to other younger members of our staff, not just in football but our whole department.
This is Heupel’s second promotion in as many years on his staff. Last year, he promoted Kelsey Pope to Tennessee football wide receivers coach.
Pope was an off-field analyst at the time. Heupel promoted him to replace Kodi Burns, who left for the same job with the New Orleans Saints.
“Anytime you can promote from within, you’re sending a strong message that good people that work hard and contribute to success are rewarded for that,” White said. “So I’m thrilled for Joey and our program that he’ll be our offensive coordinator. … He’s earned the opportunity.”
