Tennessee football is attempting to figure out who will play quarterback in the 2026 season. After reportedly taking big swings at Alabama’s Ty Simpson and Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt, both are now off the table, with Simpson going pro and Leavitt headed to LSU.
That leaves the question of what route Josh Heupel and Tennessee go from here? UT could continue to go for big fish, but there aren’t any currently in the portal. The Vols could simply roll with the two guys in the room right now, freshman Faizon Brandon and redshirt-freshman George Macintyre, but neither has much, if any, in-game experience.
On a radio hit with Josh and Swain on 99.1 The Sports Animal, VolQuest’s Austin Price gave the latest from what he’s heard. To him, he thinks the most likely option is for Tennessee to go grab an FCS quarterback to join the room and compete for the starting job.
“I still think Tennessee goes the FCS route and tries to bring somebody in from those ranks,” Price said. “That’s kind of where I expect it to be. I don’t expect Tennessee to take anybody from the Power Four level at this point. Now, obviously, that could change. But as we sit here on Wednesday, it looks like I would say more the FCS route, which means somebody that would compete, that has some experience, has probably won some games at that level, against George MacIntyre and Faizon Brandon.”
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If Tennessee does go out and snag an FCS quarterback, that raises the next question. Would he be the starter, or would one of the two younger pieces win the battle?
Price weighed in with his thoughts, saying that he’d take both MacIntyre and Brandon over an FCS quarterback. He also gave the nod to MacIntyre as the early favorite, given his year inside the system.
“I would take George, Faizon, that combination, over anybody in the FCS route as of right now,” Price said. “Now, nobody had Trinidad Chambliss doing what he’s done at Ole Miss, either. I think you have to take everything with a slow approach. As far as the two that are currently on the roster, George and Faizon are looking like that they would make the most sense… You’d have to take George MacIntyre just based off the fact that he has been in the building for a year.”
An FCS signal caller that Tennessee fans have identified as a target is Western Carolina’s Taron Dickens. After a productive year, he has entered the portal and remains unsigned. However, there has been no indication that the Vols’ staff has reached out to him at this point.
The transfer portal closes on Jan. 16, as well, giving a limited time for any other quarterbacks who may be thinking about entering to pull the trigger. Players who enter before the window closes may still commit and sign elsewhere afterward, though.
One Response
Give MacIntyre and Brandon a chance. They’ve both been in the system. What says they can’t compete?