Tennessee coach Josh Heupel lost the services of veteran quarterback Joey Aguilar after a judge denied the preliminary injunction that would have allowed him to play for the Volunteers next season.
With Aguilar’s future in college football still in limbo, Heupel shopped for a quarterback in the transfer portal aggressively in January.
Josh Heupel Keeps Tennessee Quarterback Race Wide Open
The Volunteers have three prospects in the running to claim their QB1. The battle will feature former Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Ryan Staub, redshirt freshman George MacIntyre, and highly rated freshman Faizon Brandon.
While speaking to reporters after spring practice on Monday, Heupel addressed the intense battle to be the Volunteers’ starting quarterback next season.
“They’ve had a good winter with the introduction of some of the things we’re doing offensively. George obviously has more time on task,” Heupel said. “It is open. We had that conversation with all of them as we started winter and they all arrived here. We had that conversation again as we wrapped up winter and got into spring ball.”
MacIntyre has a year in Heupel’s system, and he was Aguilar’s backup, going 7-of-9 for 67 yards last season. On the other hand, Faizon was the No. 1 quarterback and No. 1 overall prospect in the class of 2026, choosing the Vols over the Alabama Crimson Tide and the LSU Tigers.
Josh Pate Details Implications of Vols’ QB1 Battle
During a segment of the “Josh Pate College Football Show,” analyst Josh Pate addressed how the crucial 2026 Volunteers’ quarterback battle could set them up for future success.
“We’ve got a quarterback battle here,” Pate said. “It’s George MacIntyre and Faizon Brandon. The whole thing with Faizon Brandon is, if not now, then eventually. But they’re overall in a position where it’s so clear when you look at their team profile, 2027 should be a huge year for Tennessee. That’s so clear when you look at Tennessee.
“The question is, how fast can they run in 2026? Josh Heupel doesn’t think this way, but I think of 2026 as a build year, a tee-up year. Like a building up to max speed year. Sometimes you just get out of the gate a little bit quicker than folks thought you would, and the year before ends up being the year.”
Whichever prospect wins the Vols’ QB1 battle will have huge shoes to fill as Aguilar tallied 3,565 passing yards, resulting in 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, while adding 101 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns last season. He earned a PFSN College QB Impact score of 85.0.
