What Tennessee football does at quarterback in the transfer portal is currently the biggest question of the Vols’ offseason. It seems like Tennessee will pursue a signal caller out of the portal, but who? According to a report from On3’s Pete Nakos, the Vols are pursuing TCU quarterback Josh Hoover.
Hoover immediately became one of the best available quarterbacks after announcing his intentions to enter the transfer portal on Thursday. Nakos writes that Indiana is the early team to watch for Hoover but that Tennessee and Missouri are also names to watch.
The 6-foot-2, 200 pound quarterback has one more year of eligibility after spending the first four years of his career against TCU, including the last two as a full-time starter.
As a redshirt junior, Hoover completed 272-of-414 passes for 3,472 yards, 29 touchdowns and 13 touchdowns. His stats were even more impressive in 2024 when he completed 313-of-471 passes for 3,949 yards, 27 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
Tennessee reportedly tried to lure Hoover into the transfer portal last spring after Nico Iamaleava departed Knoxville for Southern California. TCU head coach Sonny Dykes criticized the current state of college football this summer while referencing a SEC team tampering with his quarterback.
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The Vols quarterback situation is currently in flux ahead of next season. As the current NCAA eligibility rules stand, starter Joey Aguilar is out of eligibility after this season.
However, Aguilar is a plaintiff on a lawsuit that is challenging NCAA eligibility rules as it relates to former junior college athletes. That lawsuit appears to have a real chance of changing the eligibility rules. But the timeline on when that will happen leaves Tennessee in flux.
Backup Jake Merklinger announced his intentions to enter the transfer portal this week, leaving just George MacIntyre and incoming freshman Faizon Brandon as the only scholarship quarterbacks on next season’s roster.
“I think it’s like your entire roster where there are moving pieces,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said. of quarterback earlier this week. “Obviously George (MacIntyre) will be the, the number two here going into the bowl game. And then as we finish that up and you and (Merklinger) enters the portal, with everything that’s going on with Joey and all those pieces, we’ll look to put that position in a room to help us go compete for a championship.”
Heupel even reluctantly admitted that Tennessee would have to add a quarterback for depth at the very least if Aguilar isn’t back next season. Hoover is the second quarterback that Tennessee has been linked to along with Brendan Sorsby.
