RTI)
With less than 100 days until the start of the 2026 college football season, talk around the sport is really going to start ramping up here soon. As teams go through summer programming, there’s dwindling time in between now and the start of the season with major events such as conference media days and fall camp on the horizon.
One of the most interesting annual occurrences of the offseason is Athlon Sports’ anonymous outlooks, which allows opposing conference coaches to speak on teams around the league without attribution. It gives brutally honest opinions on each time, whether good or bad, and gives a small look into some of the insight into in-conference scouting.
The talk around Tennessee leans more pessimistic than optimistic.
“It’s a pivotal year for them to succeed,” one anonymous SEC coach said about the Vols, via Athlon Sports. “I don’t think they’ll be better.”
The two big questions around the Tennessee program heading into the 2026 season are around the quarterback and the new defensive scheme. None of the quotes mentions defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and his new system, though, so we’ll stick with the quarterback conversation.
Joey Aguilar won’t be the quarterback for the Vols this season, despite his best efforts. That means that the Vols will turn to their fifth new starting quarterback in as many seasons, and more importantly, will likely turn to a freshman quarterback.
“Having the (Joey) Aguilar deal not go their way is a good thing for the SEC,” an anonymous SEC coach said. “They’re unproven at quarterback.”
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Redshirt freshman George MacIntyre and true freshman Faizon Brandon are reportedly the likeliest candidates coming out of spring camp, but Tennessee did acquire Colorado transfer Ryan Staub through the portal during the offseason. Either way, though, there’s not a ton of in-game production among the group. MacIntyre had nine total passing attempts as a true freshman, Brandon is coming from high school ball, and Staub only had one start for the Buffaloes last year.
“Without a veteran quarterback in that system, you don’t feel the same energy and excitement around that program,” one SEC coach said, via Athlon. “Every time we’ve faced them or versions of them, it all runs through their quarterback and how confident he is at stretching the field and how mobile he is.”
While Tennessee does have some nice playmakers on offense, the quarterback deal is obviously going to be a big one. Josh Heupel does have a strong starting running back to lean on with DeSean Bishop, but part of last year’s running success was helped out by Tennessee’s passing threat with Aguilar. Can Tennessee find an X-Factor with one of its freshman quarterbacks to help expedite the offense as a whole?
Josh Heupel was adamant in not naming a starting quarterback during the spring. Instead, he’ll let his competitors soak in the feedback over the summer and resume the competition in the fall. It’s currently unclear which quarterback will start the first game of the season against Furman on Sept. 5.
Tennessee won’t have a ton of time to tinker against lower-tier competition, though. In addition to the new nine-game conference schedule that’s enacted this season, the Vols will travel to Georgia Tech in the second week of the season on Sept. 12.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee Football coverage and check out Athlon Sports’ full anonymous SEC coaches statements here.
