KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle met with the media Tuesday after the Vols’ second spring practice of 2026, providing insight into a competitive and developing quarterback battle featuring George MacIntyre, Faizon Brandon and Ryan Staub.
Halzle emphasized a balanced approach for his signal callers as they begin to compete for the starting role this spring.
“The biggest thing is you can’t play tight trying not to make a mistake. That’s not how a job is won,” Halzle said. “You have to go cut it loose … play really hard, play really fast. But then, let’s be aggressive with the ball, not reckless with the ball.”
MacIntyre has taken noticeable steps forward entering his second year in the system, both physically and in his approach to the opportunity in front of him.
“There’s just a different animal when there’s now not a starter sitting in front of you, and it’s wide open,” Halzle said. “There’s that different intensity, there’s that different kind of sense of urgency when (MacIntyre is) walking around the building.”
Brandon, an early enrollee, has already shown the physical traits needed to compete at a high level, while continuing to grow within the system as a true freshman.
“With (Brandon), he is physically ready,” Halzle said. “He’s a big, strong kid. He could handle what it would take to go play 17 games in this conference.”
Staub arrived on Rocky Top after three seasons at Colorado. The Los Angeles native adds experience and a strong feel for the position, particularly in the passing game.
“(Staub) does a really good job at extending plays,” Halzle said. “He shops windows, he feels timing, he understands all that. He’s a highly intelligent kid … you can put the offense on him and let him go.”
As the competition unfolds, Halzle noted that processing speed remains a key factor in separating the group.
“It’s really about the ability to process,” Halzle said. “How quickly can you process new information and make a decision without getting paralysis by analysis on it?”
Tennessee will return to the field Thursday morning first its third practice of the 2026 spring semester. Full comments from Halzle’s Tuesday availability can be viewed below.
Tennessee Football Press Conference | March 17, 2026
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach Joey Halzle
On his message to the quarterbacks at the start of spring practice…
“The biggest thing, and we talked about this before we went into camp, is you can’t play tight trying not to make a mistake. That’s not how a job is won. You have to go cut it loose, you have to play well, you have to play hard, show that you can make plays while taking care of the football. That’s the biggest thing. I think a lot of times, guys either go one way too hard or they try to make every play, and they maybe give some stuff away. And then, they try to play too tight to not make a mistake, to not lose the job, and that’s not what we want to see either. So, we want to see guys go out there, cut it loose, play really hard, play really fast. But then, let’s be aggressive with the ball, not reckless with the ball. That’s been a big coaching point for me, is I don’t want the ball just thrown up for grabs, but I don’t want us playing so tight that we’re not trying to stretch this thing down the field. So, it’s walking that line for the guys.”
On evaluating QB Faizon Brandon’s ability as a true freshman…
“The first thing you have to look at is, can the guy physically hold up? You know, a lot of guys get on campus and maybe they’re not quite ready yet physically, which is not uncommon. With him, he is physically ready. He’s a big, strong kid. He could handle what it would take to go play 17 games in this conference. The next part is, alright, physically he can hold up. He can do it. Mentally, how’s he grasping, how’s he doing it? Can you put the whole offense on him? Is it just part of it? Can you put the whole run game? Can he adjust protection? So, if you feel like you have a guy that can physically handle it and he’s mentally handling the basis of it, then it shifts to, alright, what can we actually put on this guy? How much can we put on him, without making him now play slow? Because you want to put as much as you can where you’re not feeling like you don’t have your offense. But if you’re saying that’s a guy we’re starting with, and this isn’t his best thing, well, then let’s not put that on him. So, we have to do a good job as a staff as we’re going through this entire decision-making process of one, who is that guy? Obviously. And then two, what are the physical traits that allow him to be successful? And then three, what are the mental traits that allow him to be successful? And then, catering the offense to that.”
On how redshirt freshman QB George MacIntyre is carrying himself in spring practice…
“One thing, he’s gotten himself a lot physically stronger this offseason. You can see it in the way the ball’s coming out of his hand. He’s done a great job with that, something that he needs to keep pushing on. And then exactly like what you’re saying, and we tell our guys all the time, you have to treat yourself like the starter because you never know when that opportunity is coming. And it’s true, but there’s just a different animal when there’s now not a starter sitting in front of you, and it’s wide open, like everything that I’ve worked for up to this point is now legitimately sitting right in front of my face. So there’s that different intensity, there’s that different kind of sense of urgency when he’s walking around the building.”
On how winter strength and conditioning program is paying dividends for the offense…
“Our weights are all up from what they’ve been, our guys look really good walking around, and all our speeds are up or maintained. We’re getting stronger, bigger, and not losing speed while gaining the size. That’s been one of things that’s been fun to watch. Mike Matthews is walking around over 200 pounds right now, and the dude’s not slow. Those guys that are putting on the weight, but they’re putting on really good weight. They’re staying explosive, they’re staying powerful. It’s fun and exciting. Put that into summer camp and take that into fall camp, see what that could potentially look like this fall.”
On what it means to put the offense on a young quarterback’s shoulders…
“That’s big, because that’s a lot of times what a young quarterback’s last thing they can get to, is they want to see it. The want to be really sure before they let the ball go. And by the time you see it and you’re really sure, that guy that you were sure about is now not open anymore. Them being able to anticipate, understanding coverage, understanding their protection, allowing them to do that and then put balls into windows on time, they both (George MacIntyre and Faizon Brandon) have that trait, which is really exciting for us. It’s something that says, ‘This young guy, he has a chance to really play for us because he’s not waiting all the time. He’s not squeezing the football, he’s not taking forever to get the ball out, taking sacks or turning it over. He’s anticipating, he’s on time, he’s eliminating quickly.’ So all that stuff that those guys have, it’s exciting to see that they can do that at a high level.”
On what he expects to see from George MacIntyre in his season spring with the program…
“I think the main thing for him is you’re still young, meaning you’ve had a year in the system, but we do not have a lot of snaps under our belt. So, it’s fighting that urge of, ‘Man, I know this offense.’ He needs to attack it like he’s just getting here like the other guys. Because if he attacks it that way, he gives himself a chance to continue to grow. The way he carries himself around the building, like I was talking about, that sense of urgency. I’m not the guy that’s in the shadows now. It’s time for me to step forward and try to lead this team. And they all have to do that, but they all have to do that in their own way. There’s not one way to step on and start leading a team. Some guys maybe have more of a personal relationship, maybe some guys are more business-like. There’s not a right or wrong way. It’s just how does it fit you, so it doesn’t seem fake and contrived, but the guys will actually buy into you, whoever that guy ends up being at the end of fall camp.”
On the challenge of getting a young quarterback ready to play compared to two or three years ago…
“To talk to the challenges, now there’s the iPads on the sidelines, so the defenses are seeing exactly what you are doing. There’s no more communication issues with like, what are they running here, how are they doing this, what’s this play? They are looking at it, so they are ready to adjust quickly. You see so much more unscouted looks from defenses, because they also know you’re looking at them, and they feel like they can’t show you the same picture over and over. So for the quarterbacks, the pictures are changing on them now more than they ever have. Which, you know, double-edged sword here, like, it’s harder for them because they have more calls, but now your quarterbacks are seeing more looks. So, it’s like the whole yin and yang of that whole thing. That’s making it more difficult, the green dot, you know what I mean? It helps our quarterbacks because they can hear, I can give them little tidbits in their ear, but it’s also the backer that has that too. And if they’ve got a signal, they have a call, they’re getting something from the sideline that’s telling them what’s coming. There’s the whole battle of that, where we are getting benefited by the advanced technology, but it’s also right back on the defensive side too. It’s not like a negative or a positive, it’s just we’ve had to change. And you guys have seen that recently. There’s been differences in how we’ve operated, the way that tempo is legislated is different. It just makes it all so we had to adjust the way we’re playing. You already have defenses in this league that are complex, and now they’re just showing you looks that they haven’t shown you before. They have to be really dialed into what their rule is. Not, what do I think I’m getting from this defense and this is how we’re playing this play against fill in the blank, but overall, this is how you have to play this play out. And then, they have to be able to do it against a look they have never seen in practice before. That is happening more than it has ever happened.”
On what has stood out from the offense after the first two days of spring practice…
“I think what you’re looking at overall is, we are very old or very experienced at some spots, and then we’re brand new at other spots. So for us as a staff, we have to do a really good job of like, alright, we’re experienced on the offensive line, at the running back position, the wideout position. We are young at corner, we are not young at tight end, but it’s a lot of guys that haven’t played a ton of football. So doing a good job of personnel, what does that look like? Play call, what does that look like? To put the old guys in a position where they can help the young guys and we can lean on them, but also not taking it so far off where it’s like, ah, we’re hamstringing ourselves. It’s going to be an interesting battle as we work through this whole offseason, spring, summer, fall camp into what is the best way for this offense to take the field and be successful in the fall.”
On important factors for freshman WR TK Keys’ development this spring…
“He’s a guy that right when you see him, you can tell he’s got a natural skill set. He’s got all the tangibles that you want, and he’s just like any young guy that is coming in. He’s extremely talented, he makes plays, you just have to learn the mental side of it to where we can trust you to be where you want to be. And he’s working his butt off to do it, he’s done a great job. But it’s always the young guy thing, especially with a talented guy you want to see on the field. He has to earn the right that we can trust that he’s going to be where he needs to be when he’s supposed to be. He’s working towards that, but that is the big challenge of, take all the little things, you know? When you’re not just taking off down the field and you can go make a great catch, can you be in the right position to block the right guy on a run play that’s coming at you? So that’s the fight that those guys have to get into.
On what he saw in redshirt junior QB Ryan Staub at Colorado and what he brings to the quarterback room…
“Ryan’s a guy that, if you looked at the plays that he made, he did a really good job at extending plays. He does a good job improving. Like we talked about with Faizon and George, as far as anticipating, that guy throws windows at a really high level. He shops windows, he feels timing, he understands all that, so he has a really good feel for the game. He’s a highly intelligent kid, like you can put the offense on him and let him go, you know what I mean, and he’ll be ok in it. He does a great job using his mind, using his quick-twitch ability to get the ball out and get the ball out on timing. He does a good job of that, so he’s a guy that we feel very comfortable with as well.”
On the value of a young quarterback who can process quickly…
“Absolutely. The processing quickly part, you hear a lot of people tell you quarterbacks, how they are intelligence and smart and all that, and that’s true. But it’s really about the ability to process. How quickly can you process new information and make a decision without getting paralysis by analysis on it? That is playing the quarterback position. People scheme you too much; they’re never just going to roll out a vanilla look anymore. It’s just not going to happen. So how do you process it, how do you understand where people are going, who’s going where, where am I going with the football like that? And then, to your point, if a guy has that eject button with their legs, when it is a bad look, we’re going to put you in a bad position at some point with a play called, can you get us out of it? And we do have guys that can extend plays with their legs and make big plays in the passing game because of their legs and running the football as well. So, their ability to move is a huge asset.”
On what is exciting about the offensive line group…
“To the point about what D.O. (Derek Owings) and his staff have done, they’ve done a great job. They look right standing up there, and we’re not even at full health yet with everybody that could be out there. So, it’s exciting that you have a veteran offensive line that looks like they have the ability to move people off the ball. In this league, you can do as much good scheme stuff as you want, still to going to come down to at the end of the day, can you move somebody forcibly against their will? If you can, you can win ball games. If you can’t, you’re going to come up short. The way these guys are walking around, the intensity that they’re going about the walkthroughs and the mental side of the game, makes me feel good about what we can do with those guys up front.”
On redshirt junior RB DeSean Bishop returning…
“Having him (Bishop) back is huge for us. You have a back (running back) that went for over 1,000 yards in this conference, that’s not common. So the fact that we have him sitting in there again, and we’ve added some really good pieces around him, where he doesn’t have to carry the ball 45 times a game and get broken down by week eight. It excites me for what we can do in the run game. He is a guy that is, if not the best note-taker on the team, one of them. At every team meeting, at every unit meeting, that guy writes down everything you say. He’s got it all organized. There’s no protection he doesn’t understand, there’s no run scheme he doesn’t understand. The mental side of his game, he has really jumped into that and really embraced that. And it’s why you saw last year, his game went to another level, and why I think it can go even higher.”
