Tennessee Football playbook WIDE OPEN for Vols QB Nico Iamaleava

Josh hyul and Joey Hosley are giving off The Vibes that they aren't trying to ease niik imal yava in at all despite being a freshman first year starter Josh hyp said on V calls earlier this week he said quote The Playbook is wide open for Niko malava that follows what Joey Hosley the offensive coordinator said last week when he said the vs quote don't feel like you've got a freshman quarterback that's never done it fulltime before making it very clear to me that they are planning to completely throw everything out at Nik IM malava now it could be one of two things or it could be both which is that it could be this offense is very easy and simple to learn I think it is for quarterbacks I don't think there's a lot I think it's harder for a receiver to pick up than a quarterback guys I'm just being honest but it also I think part of this is I think Nico IM malava is very mature and very capable and very able to pick up things that are thrown at him very very quickly and that's a very good sign for a Young quarterback none of this surprises me I thought that Nico would be able to handle everything but I don't agree that this is an easy offense I think that what we have seen to this point we have we have seen an a pretty easy offense for a quarterback to play you're reading the safety that's what you're doing you're running the football you have a strong running game but I think there's more to this offense and for from what I've been told you could see some two tight end sets in short yardage which you haven't seen under Josh hyle you could see them substitute receivers in between drives which you haven't seen a lot and that would throw more at Nico because each receiver has their nuances right you also could run some four receiver sets so I think the offense has been simple to this point because you've had inexperience somewhere and often times at the quarterback position so I'm not surprised at all that Nico they're throwing the book at Nico because I think he was studying Tennessee's offense I think he was ready to go to some extent what was the game last year where it looked like Joe Milton might come out it was fairly early in the season and I just remember ni go he he was bounced up and and ready to go and engaged and ready to run on the field can you remember that it was a slight knee inj uh let's see it was I think the fourth game of the year I know the one you're talking about it was it was the Texas San Antonio game after he had that 80 yard touchdown run and he got banged up a little bit yes so great point about the Red Zone West um so I think that this offense has a lot more facets to it it's all the staple is always going to be reading the safety and pressuring the safety to either play The Run play the slot or play the wide out you're pressuring the safety that's the whole goal with this offense now that's not going to change but I think there's more to it let me ask you this do you think Nico can handle as much or more of the offensive Playbook than Joe Milton last year or henden hooker the year before because both had an experienced Advantage not only in Hyo system but in college football in general do I think n do you think he could be more Adept at running Tennessee's offense than Milton last year or hooker in 2022 I don't want to say more Adept but I think he can be as Adept at running it as Joe Milton was last year and I will say this it's hinden hooker is a little bit more difficult because hen hooker was a sixth year senior the hen hooker just had so much experience studying and understanding things and I mean honestly he's just one of the smartest people to ever play quarterback at Tennessee is that fair to say and Tennessee's had some smart quarterbacks Josh dos pton Manning to name a couple yes yes and so I think hen hooker's on that like Mount rush just smartest quarterbacks now Joe Milton is smart I'm not saying he's not smart but I think I think niik can do what Joe Milton did because I don't think Joe Milton reacted quickly enough in this offense on the field and was able to do that and so because of that I do think Nico is more capable so I think he will understand it better than Milton he won't understand it as well as hinden hooker I will say that I think he's going to be a little more limited than hinden hooker but I actually still think that won't stop him from being better than hinden hooker this year because I think there's some throws he can make that hinden hooker just couldn't make okay so do you think he can be as Adept just from the neck up as hinden hooker so you've already said not more so because he hasn't had the time but I will say equal to and first let me tell you uh what my chef at Asia Cafe said uh last night I ask him about Nico why because he was Polynesian and he mentioned that so I said hey what do you think about Tennessee's quarterback he said you pretty good and so that's his response Asia Cafe treat yourself to authentic Asian Cuisine handcrafter from guarded Family Recipes five locations to choose from Asia cafe.org Asia cafe.org but he did remember Jesse Mahala and he played football in Hawaii so it was It was kind of cool and I told everybody at the Habachi thing how Polynesian players 100% of the time are always great players and I would bet on them like no other and I said I apologize for stereotyping but it's a positive stereotype is that okay I think he's every bit as Adept as henden hooker heading into the season and I will go ahead and say even more so that's nothing against hinden hookers processing which I think was good but I think you'll see it's going to be at a higher level uh with with Nico maybe not against tough opponents the first half of the season but eventually I think he's going to be a significantly better and more efficient quarterback by the end of the season than henden hooker that's hot yeah it is I think Nico iamal yava may be more Adept than hinden hooker but let me put it to you this way Dave you're not committing I'm sorry you're not committing well here's here's why okay he may be more depth than hen hooker but would you agree it's not like there's not a gigantic Gulf between the two right it's not like an obvious in depthness like because like you it's impossible to be that much more dep than H hooker because he's pretty Adept right no he I mean he was like the was he the second highest rated quarterback in the nation or the first in 2022 so I mean we're talking about pretty stratospheric Heights yes basically they're the same tier even if you think niiko imala is more Adept is that fair to say that's fair if they're in the same tier I just don't see how it's possible that niiko imal yava as a seconde starter would be as Adept as hen hooker was as a sixth year senior now now let me get let me throw caveat 2022 was just hen and hooker's second year in the system just like this is niik imal Ava's second year in the system B and so that is fair but don't you think there are other subtle nuances of experience that you can get from having played in other systems and just played college football up until that point yeah and I think that all helped hen hooker I think there's a transition and and you you you kind of Might disagree with this I think there's a transition just in in terms of getting the weight room getting to class and class isn't as important as it used to be guys I'm just gonna be honest with you but I I think there's a transition there so henden hooker knew that coming in um but I tell you I just believe there's been a team of people around Nico and that that's a team of people from Tennessee making sure that he is is getting all the coaching that he needs but there's also a team of people and that's his family which goes back to the Polynesian thing they're strong on family and again I'm not trying to stereotype but it's positive Caleb is does that make it okay if it's positive I mean I'm just telling you everyone every I mean it's not a it's not a huge sample size but it's a dozen players and and and every single one so I believe he's got family to that have moved in Knoxville to help be around him I just the support staff there's too much at stake when you sign that type of contract so unless he just showed up on campus was an absolute dud and I've covered those guys before or got in trouble or something else I thought he would head into this season at about a henden hooker clip just short of it and end up being at that clip by the end of the season so a lot of you may not remember how good henden hooker was in 2022 so I mean let let's take a look at that for just a second if I may I I'm going to go by raiding and henen hooker was number two the CJ strout 175. five I'm not telling you that Nico is going to be the second highest rated quarterback in the nation at the end of the season but I would be stunned if he wasn't top 10 oh I I agree I agree and one of the things that Nico has right now that hinden hooker didn't have in 2021 at the very least is Neo imal Ava's pocket presence is significantly better so for those who are looking at Hen hooker stats his passing stats were actually a little bit better in 2021 but he took a this is is kind of the caveat he took a lot more sacks because his pocket presence wasn't there that's kind of the flaw on quarterback ratings right Dave is they don't they don't Factor sacks against the quarterback when if you've watched enough football you know half the time the sack is the quarterback's fault as much as it is the offensive lineman's fault maybe even more and I think hen hooker got much better at that at 2022 it's not very clear but Nico last year had against Iowa just showed a level of pocket presence that we never saw even from hen hooker and to your point about poian Steve I just want to a side note you know Tu T laoya has lit into his former coach this week Brian Flores and you know that stereotype is true because everybody just reflexively agrees with Tua tagalo T Tua tagal laoya because typically people would say you shouldn't trash your former coach and everybody's like no he's got to be honest he would never do that otherwise do you know what my chef said yesterday at Asia Cafe to go to Asia cafe.org he said I just told him I said these scallops are excellent and he goes you know why and I I said why because I made it and I'm the best and he didn't say it in a cocky way but I believed him and from that point I just there's a a quiet confidence not a cocky there I just believe he has the mental makeup but you took it to the Iowa game that's where I wanted to go too great minds think aik or crazy minds think aik would henden hooker have played as well as Nico uh in in the Iowa game because I thought Nico played perfectly because I would drop people back and Nico with his Grand debut I'm sure he wanted to make those Sports Center highlight plays but they just weren't there to be had very often I love the fact that he didn't force the ball I love the fact that he didn't get flustered forget the fact that he he might not have through an 80 yard touchdown pass and all that I know he can do that stuff it was his mental maturity in that game that stands out guys I mean that I was not going to let Tennessee beat them deep and I'm not sure that henden hooker facing that same defense would have done as well or better I think he would have done as well as if the the the six year senior hinden hooker would have done as well and remember this because here's the thing hinden hooker I don't know if he would have taken as much with the def gave him I think he would have created more big plays because n can run but hen hooker isn't a can run guy Nick hen hooker is a dual threat is like oh he will destroy you with his legs is that fair to say like hdden hooker is not just a like n's a pocket passer who can run and will run if the lane is there if hen hooker takes off to run he's not looking to keep you honest with seven yards he's looking to gain 50 yards agree I think that's the big difference agreed do me a favor and hit that like And subscribe button Cooper what should people do Cooper May here hit like And subscribe so do it and Travis says how do you say to his last name again kale y'all give me a break okay this isn't fair no it's talk Caleb knows how to say that there's no question about