The Tennessee Vols finished with the No. 13 scoring offense in the nation last season, but UT offensive coordinator Joey Halzle still feels like there were a lot of plays left on the field.
Specifically, Halzle would like to see Tennessee hit on more “big plays” down the field in 2025.
“I think for all of us, as an offense, is hitting the big plays when they present themselves,” said Halzle on Wednesday while meeting with reporters. “It’s hard in this league to get big plays and when they present themselves you gotta make them. You’re never gonna bat a thousand, you’re not gonna hit a hundred percent, but we gotta hit those at a higher clip this year. From O-line to quarterback to wide out to [running] back to tight end, we all gotta step up and we gotta make those plays.”
Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava echoed those sentiments while speaking with the media a few minutes later. “I think just timing with our receivers (needs to be better),” said Iamaleava. “A lot of miscues out there that happened last season. I think that was just us not being on the same page. I think the more reps we get in practice, you know, just keep practicing, so when it’s game time, it’ll be easy.”
There were times last season where Tennessee had receivers open down the field and either Iamaleava missed the throw, the receiver wasn’t in the right place, or the pass protection didn’t hold up, resulting in a missed opportunity.
There’s been plenty of talk over the last six months that Tennessee needs to add some wrinkles to its offense. I definitely think that’s a must for the Vols in 2025 (though that’s true for every college offense), but simply connecting on the big plays when they’re there will help take the Vols’ offense back to a consistently elite level.
