‘Brotherhood’ Helping Tennessee QB Duo Flourish
Gabriel Jackson
After joining the Vols in the 2021 offseason, both Hendon Hooker and Joe Milton came to Rocky Top with experience and expectations.
Hooker comes from a family of quarterbacks. His father is a member of the North Carolina A&T athletics hall of fame, and his younger brother currently plays the position as a redshirt freshman for the N.C. A&T Aggies. Before transferring to Knoxville, Hooker spent his first four years at Virginia Tech and earned his undergraduate degree while playing for the Hokies.
Hooker said of the transition, “One thing that stood out to me when I moved that January was that I didn’t need any of my big coats. It wasn’t as cold as Blacksburg on top of the mountain. That was one of the bright sides, I definitely love playing somewhere warm.
The people here in the building are so embracing and encouraging. I knew that it was a tough year prior when I arrived here, so trying to improve that was the main goal.Hendon Hooker
Milton brought his talents from the University of Michigan in June of 2021, where earned his bachelor’s degree in just three years.
Milton also appreciates the warmer weather and also cited the hospitality that he was shown upon arriving on campus as a big reason for the move.
It felt like a family. The team and the coaches were all very welcoming and it definitely played a big part.Joe Milton III
As Hooker and Milton came in as new quarterbacks, so too did Josh Heupel as the new head coach. Being quarterbacks, the expectation to lead coach Heupel’s offense falls on their shoulders. The pair understood that responsibility and have taken it very seriously.
“Many times, Joe and I catch ourselves kind of being in that player-coach role. We try to show guys that there are going to be different things that hit you through this college experience, not just in the football room but in life as well,” Hooker said. “We just try to be there for the guys whenever they need us.”
“Yeah, we try to lead guys the right way,” Milton added. “We don’t want to tell them wrong or let them go through the things we went through, so we try to help them early.”
The pair addressed the elephant in the room as far as the starting situation goes, but they assure there is no animosity between them.
Milton said of that first training camp, “It was kind of weird at first because obviously only one quarterback can play. So it was all competitiveness and we didn’t talk to each other as much.”
Hendon shared a fun story of how he got his first experience of Milton’s competitiveness over a game of pick up basketball.
First time I met Joe, we were playing pickup basketball over the summer. We were playing so aggressively, talking trash, and going at it. Honestly, we’re just true competitors and that's what it came down to; our competitive nature.Hendon
That translated to the quarterback room, so when Joe got the job, I wanted to be the best teammate I can be and encourage him to go out there and win ball games, because that's what we’re here for. We’re not here for anything else. We’re here to win ball games and achieve our goals.Hendon
Today the pair have become great friends on and off the field with Milton describing their relationship now as a brotherhood.
“We really go everywhere together,” Milton said. “We’re always around each other. If you see me, you'll see him. If you see him, you’ll see me. And if you ever see him without me, I’m probably about to pull up … It’s a brotherhood that can’t be broken for sure.”
Hooker said of their relationship, “It’s deeper than football. We push each other to be better quarterbacks, but we’re really brothers. Blood couldn’t make us any closer. If I am going through anything, Joe is the first person I am going to. We’re extremely close and we do everything together. Anytime one of us is distressed, the other one comes to the rescue. I can always count on Joe to have my back, and I am always going to have his back.”
The two have also developed a great working relationship both in practice and in games.
“We don’t even have to push each other on the field,” Milton said. “It’s more just guiding each other through the games. We’re two brains working as one. He’s on the field at first, but it's like I am on the field with him. I see things that he may not see. He only has two eyes, so I try to be those extra eyes for him.”
That’s what it’s all about, we’re just enjoying our time here. We don’t get these days back, especially this college experience where we're playing football at a very high level.Hendon
I feel like we’re two of the smartest quarterbacks in the nation. Honestly our viewpoints from coming from different programs, and then being here under coach Heupel and the supporting cast around him. We’re like coaches on the field.”
The duo uses their knowledge of the game to the advantage of UT’s quarterback room, and it’s paying dividends early in the 2022 campaign. As a unit, the Volunteer QBs have completed 72.5 percent of their passes for 1,114 yards with nine touchdowns and no interceptions—good for a staggering 193.4 team QBR through the first three weeks of the season.
“We just see things differently,” Milton explained. “We get to see the game from another quarterback's point of view. Not every quarterback in college football is going to help out his other quarterback. Once you grow that bond, everything else just plays out smoothly.”
“There’s not a lot of quarterbacks with the football I.Q. that Joe has and the football I.Q. that I have,” Hooker continued. “When we put them together and brainstorm with the coaches, they implement that into the game plan. Just being in the room with him is a blessing, and I wouldn’t want to be in the room with anyone else.”
The pair concluded by taking turns describing the other's character.
Milton described Hooker by saying, “He is very humble and caring. He is very family oriented. He puts his trust in his family and they put their trust in him.”
“Joe is very caring and outgoing. He’s a social butterfly for sure,” Hooker said of Milton. “He’s also hilarious; probably the funniest dude on the team. He’s really down to earth and ready to help. He’s the type of guy that if you are at a function and people are cleaning up, he’s going to help you clean up too. He just has great character traits and is a great friend.”