Josiah Oxendine, a class of 2026 quarterback, was extended a scholarship offer from Tennessee Football. The 6-foot and 175-pound signal caller was back on campus last week.
Along with working through drills, Oxendine got to spend some time with offensive coordinator Joey Halzle.
“I really like coach Halzle and coach Heupel over at Tennessee,” Oxendine said. “It’s great spending time with them on Wednesday. I enjoyed the camp too. I had a great time there. I think our relationship is really good.”
Still early in his recruitment, Oxendine currently holds eight offers including the one from Tennessee. He has interacted with Halzle on more than one occasion, and he sees why he earned a promotion.
Oxendine, out of Dillon (S.C.) High School, plans on getting to Knoxville to see Neyland Stadium on game day.
“I think coach Halzle is going to do a great job in his first year as offensive coordinator,” Oxendine said. “I think they’re going to have another really good season this year, possibly even a better season than last year.”
Oxendine took a true visit to Tennessee before camping on Wednesday. He got a chance to tour campus and see what the Vols have planned with renovating facilities.
During his short trip, the signal caller was impressed with the culture around the program, one that is focused on development more than other things.
“It’s basically just coaching,” Oxendine said. “They want to put you around some of the best coaches to help you get better. They want to have you with the best nutrition, the best equipment, the best recovery. Basically trying to make you the best player you can be to either go to the NFL or just for college. They try to make you a better person, a better human as well.”
Oxendine’s camp was the first for the newly hired McKenzie Milton. Heupel’s former quarterback from UCF paid close attention to Oxendine, taking notes.
He didn’t say much during the camp, but he offered a word of advice for Oxendine when he was leaving.
“He gave me good advice about going into my future and stuff and what I need to continue to work on to help me be a better football player in the future,” he said. “Basically, the No. 1 thing he told me as a quarterback is film. The better you understand defenses, what a defense wants to do, what their goals are as a defense, that’s going to help you a lot. Once you get to the college level, there are a bunch of great athletes. You need to have the preparation against those athletes.”
Oxendine expects to have a busy summer with camps, but he has a goal in mind. He wants to increase chemistry with his high school teammates with the goal of a state championship. The rest, for Oxendine, can wait.
He gave me good advice about going into my future and stuff and what I need to continue to work on to help me be a better football player in the future.
“I’m practicing at my high school,” Oxendine said. “That’s the most important thing to me right now is practicing at my high school and getting my chemistry down with my teammates so we can have a great season this year.”
