Tennessee football got some clarity at the quarterback position for 2026, but none of it was positive. First, the Vols lost a recruiting battle for Arizona State transfer Sam Leavitt to LSU. The next logical step after that was looking to Missouri’s Beau Pribula, who was already tied with Tennessee.
However, on Monday night, Pribula committed to Virginia, instead, according to On3.
This leaves Tennessee in the dark at the moment. Leavitt and Pribula were the only two quarterbacks the Vols were heavily tied to in the portal, and neither is coming to Knoxville.
Current quarterbacks on the roster are redshirt-freshman George MacIntyre and true freshman Faizon Brandon. Both were extremely highly-recruited, but have little to no experience at the college level.
Josh Heupel and company could try to find another transfer, but 24 of the top 26 quarterbacks in the portal (247 rankings) have committed elsewhere, and the two that haven’t are young and don’t fit UT’s timeline.
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In his first season with the Tigers, Pribula was the team’s starting quarterback. He appeared in 10 games, missing a pair due to injury, starting in each. On the year, he produced 1,914 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also ran for 297 yards and six scores.
Before heading to Missouri, Pribula played at Penn State under James Franklin. Though the pair wouldn’t have worked hand-in-hand anyway, there is no overlap with new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles in Happy Valley.
Pribula was never the full-time starter for the Nittany Lions, but was able to total 424 passing yards, nine touchdowns, just one pick and 10 rushing scores from 2023-24. He was also on the team in 2022, but saw no action and earned a redshirt.
This upcoming season will be his final year of eligibility.
