Joey Halzle speaks about Nico Iamaleava’s development, ability to be ready this season
By Keith Farner
Published:
Nico Iamaleava has impressed Tennessee coaches since he first joined the team for bowl practices, and then continued to develop in the spring.
One thing that Joey Halzle, the offensive coordinator, revealed on Wednesday is like Hendon Hooker before him, Iamaleava has developed a great relationship with starting QB Joe Milton. Halzle mentioned that the two QBs spend a lot of time together.
“They’re already extremely close,” Halzle said. “… Now it’s almost like big brother, little brother relationship with the 2 of them. You rarely see Joe without Nico. It’s been great for him to kind of see the way how a quarterback should operate on a day to day level. Joe’s been a great mentor to him and he’s really helped bring along his development on and off the field.”
In case the 5-star freshman needs to play early, and is called upon, Halzle said he’s ready.
“That guy is mature beyond his years,” Halzle said. “He didn’t come in like a true freshman. He came in wanting to learn, not thinking like a highly rated recruit … he came in understanding like ‘I want to learn, I need to know’. And the way that guy just has his calmness on the field, his demeanor. I think the guys will believe in him as well that if he’s called upon to do the job, that dude can step in and compete and perform at a high level. So we have a ton of confidence in that guy.”
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
