Tennessee football has a big question mark at the quarterback position heading into the 2026 season. As Joey Aguilar fights for eligibility, which he is out of by the current rules, the Vols are also weighing options of second-year George MacIntyre, true freshman Faizon Brandon and a potential transfer.
If Tennessee decides to grab a transfer portal quarterback, it’d make sense for Josh Heupel to try to land one of the top available options. The recruiting pitch is a strong one, too. UT can boast a lot of returning pieces after a productive season, the numbers Aguilar just put up and a pretty payday with a strong NIL fund.
As quarterback names continue to roll into the portal, there have been multiple to make mental notes of once it officially opens in January. The most recent is Iowa State’s Rocco Becht, according to a report from Pete Thamel.
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Becht is finishing his fourth season with Iowa State and will have one year of eligibility remaining. However, this past season, Becht’s numbers took a bit of a dip compared to prior years as a starter. He completed 60.5% of passes for 2,584 yards, 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Early indications are Penn State will be the team to beat in his recruitment, though. Matt Campbell, his head coach with the Cyclones, took the job with the Nittany Lions this offseason. Following his coach to State College would make a lot of sense.
However, he was a name tied to UT this spring when Nico Iamaleava left for UCLA. Ultimately, he stayed at ISU, and Tennessee grabbed Aguilar.
Other quarterbacks that have announced they intend to transfer so far that would make sense with the Vols include Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt, Cincinnati’s Brendan Sorsby and TCU’s Josh Hoover.
