If ever there were a doubt of the impact of Josh Heupel on the Tennessee program, it ended when Joe Milton III took the field at the Orange Bowl.

And didn’t look anything like Joe Milton III.

“Freaky bright,” Heupel said of Tennessee’s future.

He may as well have been talking about Milton, the sudden Superman of a quarterback after his brilliant performance in the Orange Bowl win over Clemson.

Because anyone who saw Milton as Michigan’s starting quarterback in 2020, or Tennessee’s starting quarterback for 2 games in 2021, must have been stunned by what played out against one of the best defenses in the nation.

Milton was poised and didn’t panic. He moved within the pocket to find 2nd and 3rd progressions, instead of escaping after the 1st was taken away.

He threw with accuracy. He threw on time and with anticipation.

Milton did everything he couldn’t do consistently until this season — and may as well be a walking billboard for what Heupel has built in such a short time in Knoxville.

“There’s so much left for us out there,” Heupel said.

Read More

Tennessee online sports betting officially launched on November 1, 2020, and many of the largest sportsbooks are live and operating in the volunteer state. Tennessee is only one of a handful of SEC football states with legalized sports betting.

And again, he could easily be speaking of Milton, who lost the job to Hooker in Week 2 of 2021 and never got it back until Hooker’s knee injury in November ended his season.

He looked like the same Milton a week later against SEC tomato can Vanderbilt, barely completing 50 percent of his passes and using his big arm for a couple of wow throws in an unremarkable game to make you forget about all the other questions.

Then Heupel got a hold of him for 15 bowl practices, and Milton’s world changed. Because that’s really the only way to describe the acute metamorphosis from a guy seemingly headed to the transfer portal again (while Vols fans pined for 5-star recruit Nico Iamaleava), to an impressive, affective and — here’s the key — consistent threat in the passing game.

He showed touch on short throws, which he hadn’t shown since he arrived on campus. He threw accurately on intermediate throws, and still had the big arm to fit throws into tight windows and throw it farther than anyone would ever need it.

He was so good, the idea now that Iamaleava — and his reported million-dollar NIL deal — will start in 2023 is almost laughable. He’ll compete with Milton, but if Milton made a significant jump in 15 bowl practices (and a week of practice as the QB1 for Vandy), what will he look like after 15 more practices this spring and an entire summer of work?

How much better could the quarterback who was benched at Michigan and Tennessee — and was a placeholder for bigger and better things as recently as a month ago — be after working an entire offseason with the first team offense?

A hint: freaky bright.

Milton was Hooker’s roommate this season, and soaked up valuable knowledge of the position, and how to manage it on and off the field. He watched a 24-year-old grown man develop into a Heisman Trophy candidate and lead a program to levels of success it hadn’t experienced since the early 2000s.

Tennessee set school records this season for average points per game (46.1), yards per game (525.5), touchdowns (79), passing touchdowns (38) and pass efficiency (181.40 QB rating). The same way Missouri set records when Heupel was the offensive coordinator for Drew Lock, and the same way UCF set records when Heupel was head coach.

Trust the system and your place in it, Hooker told Milton.

“The next play’s got to happen,” Milton said. “You have to move on to the next play. The last play, you can’t go back and change it after it’s done.”

By the end of the night in Miami Gardens, Milton had completely flipped the script on his career. He had 251 yards passing, 3 impressive touchdown throws and completed 68 percent of his passes.

It may as well have been Hooker finishing off his 5th and final season. Instead it was the most intriguing player of 2023 setting up his 6th super senior season.

They’ll be an odd symmetry between Hooker and Milton next year, one that could play out like the same beautiful symphony. Hooker transferred and found peace and prolific change.

Milton, who will turn 23 this year, transferred and might have again were it not for the unfortunate injury to Hooker. Now he has 1 season remaining to make it all right and continue the meteoric rise of the Tennessee program under Heupel.

“I’m running around, having fun again,” Milton said. “It feels like home.”

With so much more left out there.