Tennessee football: Joe Milton, Hendon Hooker make outlet’s impact transfer QBs
One of the biggest storylines surrounding Tennessee football under new head coach Josh Heupel is the quarterback situation. Jarrett Guarantano and J.T. Shrout have transferred, Harrison Bailey and Brian Maurer are back, and Heupel himself is known as a quarterback guru.
Newcomers at the position made lots of headlines as a result. One of them was four-star recruit Kaidon Salter. The other two are graduate transfers: Hendon Hooker from the Virginia Tech Hokies and Joe Milton from the Michigan Wolverines. Hooker took part in spring ball.
Although Milton and Hooker can’t both have an impact on Tennessee football at the same time in 2021, both were named among the eight impact transfer quarterbacks this offseason by Garrett Stepien of 247Sports. Ironically, new Florida State Seminoles quarterback McKenzie Milton, who was Heupel’s starting quarterback with the UCF Knights in 2018, also made the list.
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Obviously, given the fact that Hooker is a dual-threat and Milton is a three-star, you could theoretically see Heupel finding use for both. However, given the fact that Bailey outplayed Hooker in spring practice and Salter hasn’t even gotten a look yet, it’s no guarantee that either quarterback will be the starter when the season rolls around.
Of the two transfers, Hooker would seem to have the advantage since he’s a dual-threat who has played in a similar system under Justin Fuente. Milton was the one targeted specifically by Heupel, though, and he was recruited by Heupel when Heupel was the Missouri Tigers’ offensive coordinator in 2017, so there is a deeper connection.
Simply put, the quarterback situation is wide open, and it’s hard to say what type of impact either of these transfers will have, especially when one didn’t even commit to this current staff. There are just too many questions.
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Both of them making this list, though, shows that Tennessee football still has a good problem. The Vols have five quarterbacks on scholarship, four of whom were four-star recruits or better coming out of high school, and a quarterback guru coaching them. You can’t ask for a better situation to start building a new program.