Tennessee football lost its first offensive player to the transfer portal Wednesday morning with Jake Merklinger announcing his intentions to enter the portal when it officially opens in early January.
Merklinger was Joey Aguilar’s backup quarterback in 2025, completing 13-of-24 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns. There’s still an outside chance that NCAA eligibility rules regarding former junior college athletes changes and Aguilar is eligible in 2026. But for now, Tennessee’s top two quarterbacks from a season ago will not be back next season.
Merklinger entering the portal is far from a shocking departure but it leaves Tennessee’s quarterback room bare entering next season.
Tennessee’s only returning quarterbacks are freshman George MacIntyre and walk-on Mason Phillips. The Vols also bring in five-star quarterback Faizon Brandon through the prep ranks.
As things currently stand, Tennessee’s quarterbacks on next season’s roster have played 18 combined college stats all coming from MacIntyre. He completed seven-of-nine pass attempts for 69 yards in his freshman season.
Merklinger’s departure just re-iterates what was already evident— Tennessee needs to add a quarterback in the transfer portal.
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Both MacIntyre and Brandon are talented quarterbacks. Brandon was the No. 2 recruit in the entire country according to 247sports. But both are extremely young and inexperienced. As Tennessee enters the first season with a nine-game SEC schedule, they need more experience behind center.
Ideally, Tennessee adds a veteran quarterback for one year. Then entering 2027, Josh Heupel and his staff know whether they want to roll with MacIntyre or Brandon. Or even better, they keep both on the roster and the two compete for the starting job over the offseason.
But the need for a one-year placeholder is clear. It’s hard to imagine wither MacIntyre or Brandon not struggling some as a first-year, full-time starter in 2026. With the amount of returning talent Tennessee has on offense, they need to try and hit the ground running.
Who could that quarterback be? It’s unclear. Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola, Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt, Cincinatti’s Brendan Sorsby, Florida’s DJ Lagway and Old Dominion’s Colton Joseph are some of the top quarterbacks in the portal to date.
What is Tennessee willing to spend on a quarterback? What other signal callers end up hopping in? Those are all important questions. But it’s clear that the Vols need to add a transfer body.
