Tennessee football quarterback Joey Aguilar requested a preliminary injunction that would allow him to return to the Vols in the 2026 season, but it was denied by a judge in a Knoxville court. As a result, UT is moving on and holding a three-man quarterback battle this offseason.
In the wake of the Aguilar decision, plenty of people noted the negative impact it could have on the team. Instead of a veteran signal caller with a year under his belt under Josh Heupel, Tennessee would have to turn to an unproven and likely young option.
That’s not how college football analyst Brooks Austin sees it, though. Austin posted his thoughts on his X account, saying it was the best thing for the future of the program. In the caption of his video, he noted that he thinks UT is ‘fortunate’.
“I think Joey Aguilar not being available is the best thing for the long-term health of this quarterback room,” Austin said. “There’s a window of opportunity for us to have excellent quarterback play tied with a good roster to go on and compete for a title. That’s the whole goal, right? We also know, because we cover college football, we watch college football, odds are, for young football players, that window of excellent quarterback play is going to be coming in year two, or better yet, year three in the system.
“Tennessee is very much a byproduct of this statement. Hendon Hooker’s explosion year was in year two in that system and playing for Josh Heupel up there with the Volunteers. That’s where they want to be, that’s where they need to be, and guess what? George MacIntyre is a sophomore (redshirt-freshman) right now. So, we better get into this window and find out what George MacIntyre is, because guess what? Next year, Faizon Brandon is going to be a sophomore.
“Essentially, no different than when you draft a rookie quarterback and then three or four years into his contract, either he hasn’t played or has been injured or he hasn’t played well enough to where we know he’s the guy. Year four or year five is decision time. In my opinion, in college football, when you buy a really, really expensive high school prospect at the quarterback position, in particular, year two, sophomore year basically is year four in NFL terms. Because we have to decide whether or not this guy is the guy, or we better go find somebody who is.”
Tennessee’s fortunate to have lost the Joey Aguilar court case. pic.twitter.com/TylkcTzIaR
— Brooks Austin (@BrooksAustinBA) February 25, 2026
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Without Aguilar, it’ll be between George MacIntyre, Faizon Brandon and Ryan Staub for the starting job. MacIntyre is widely considered the favorite heading into spring camp, due to his year in the system. As a true freshman a year ago, he served as the third-string quarterback behind Aguilar and Jake Merklinger.
MacIntyre’s main competition for the job is Brandon. The former five-star prospect enters his true freshman season, but was considered the No. 3 player in the country by 247 in the 2026 class.
Staub is also a name to watch, joining the battle with the most college experience. He enters his redshirt-junior year after spending three seasons at Colorado, but didn’t have much sustained success over his 10 appearances and one start.
