Former UCF and Florida State quarterback McKenzie Milton is officially making the switch from player to coach.
According to ESPN, Milton has accepted a job on Josh Heupel’s staff at Tennessee. He’ll spend the 2023 season as an offensive analyst.
Milton will get to reunite with Heupel, who coached him at UCF from 2018-2020.
“I’m just excited to get back into football,” Milton told ESPN. “I missed it a bunch.”
Former FSU, UCF QB McKenzie Milton is joining Tennessee’s staff as an offensive analyst, per @aadelsonESPN. https://t.co/hzTjXE820k pic.twitter.com/EeecEgJQTU
— On3 (@On3sports) May 25, 2023
Heupel is confident that Milton will be a successful coach. After all, he was such a prolific quarterback at the collegiate level prior to suffering a catastrophic knee injury.
“McKenzie represents everything that is great about college football,” Heupel said in a statement. “His perseverance, determination and leadership are attributes that made him successful as a player and will no doubt translate to him being an outstanding future coach. He’s always been a student of the game and understands the why behind what we do.”
Milton won’t have a huge role for the Volunteers this season, but that’s OK. He knows he’ll need to work his way up the ladder.
“I just want to be a sponge, just learning from the head ball coach, learning from everybody,” Milton said. “To truly be a great coach, you have to be a master of all.”
Tennessee will kick off its 2023 campaign on Sept. 2 against Virginia.