Tennessee Football Coaches Joey Halzle and William Inge Preview Illinois

Joey Halzle and William Inge spoke during the Music City Bowl press conference.

Tennessee football offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle speaks to the media during football media day, in Knoxville, Tennessee, July 29, 2025. | Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Coaches from Tennessee and Illinois took part in the Music City Bowl press conference in Nashville on Monday.

Josh Heupel, Joey Halzle, and William Inge were the three selected coaches to speak at the press conference on behalf of the Vols.

Halzle on Growth of Vols

University of Tennessee football's offensive coordinator Joey Halzle speaks to the press on media day at the campus in Knoxville, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. | Hannah Mattix/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

“Yeah, I think it’s, it’s like what I was saying about George, you see it across with all our young wideouts, young backs, O-linemen. You get 15 practices to go do a lot with and you’re not right in the game playing right at the beginning. So, you see guys that, maybe have been on some scout team or down the depth chart a little bit really feeling that they got another chance to go get out on the field right now. And you’re seeing that talent take back over it. It puts the competitive nature right back out there on the field. So, it’s a fun time for us because we get to get a really good look at what is in our building after a year of being in the program, these young guys, okay, they’re not young anymore, so now who do we really have? What are they really like? And it’s a really fun energy to be around," Halzle said.

Inge on Growth of Edwin Spillman

Tennessee linebacker Edwin Spillman (13) chases down Georgia running back Josh McCray (2) during a college football game between Tennessee and Georgia at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., on Sept. 13, 2025. | Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“We’ve probably seen from him maybe the biggest jump potentially of anyone on our team from a growth and development standpoint. Seeing him come in, maximize his role, do the things that he had to do it when Arion Carter went down, for him to be able to elevate and continue to keep playing. But the one thing on my end, some of it, it wasn’t a surprise because he was under the wing of Arion Carter. Arion did a great job of being able to bring the whole group and the whole unit along. Edwin was really someone who really picked up the benefits and we saw that a year ago, every day he’s going to be able to take a step. He’s one of the first guys in the building coming to work, wanting to be good, wanting to be great and wanting to do all the small things to make his game elevate," Inge explained.

Click HERE to watch and listen to everything that Joey Halzle and William Inge had to say during the Music City Bowl press conference on Monday afternoon.

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