Tennessee Football will begin spring training camp in less than two weeks, and there is no shortage of storylines to discuss when diving into Josh Heupel’s sixth team on Rocky Top. You’ve got a rebuilt defense to dissect with the new coaching staff and player additions from the last few months, as well as returning players who are set to increase their roles heading into the 2026 season. Heck, you’ve even got a new kicker on the team after Max Gilbert’s departure to Arkansas through the transfer portal.
But while these are all good and important storylines, the quarterback conversation will likely dominate the headlines over the next handful of weeks. With Joey Aguilar’s court ruling not going in his favor, Tennessee is set to have another true quarterback battle this offseason with redshirt freshman George MacIntyre, true freshman Faizon Brandon, and Colorado transfer Ryan Staub.
Without any on-field work to go on yet, many have penciled in MacIntyre as the way-too-early favorite in the race because of his one year of familiarity with the Tennessee system. But as Josh Heupel noted to On3’s Chris Low last week, it’ll be a “real” competition over the next handful of months.
Going under the impression that MacIntyre will win the competition and be Tennessee’s starting quarterback, ESPN has slotted him into its Top College Football Quarterback Power Rankings list this week as the Vols’ representative. ESPN’s Bill Connelly ranked the top 68 quarterbacks in the nation before spring football begins this month, with MacIntyre landing in the back half.
Connelly has MacIntyre as the No. 49 quarterback in the rankings, which is only above two other SEC quarterback situations: Arkansas’s KJ Jackson/AJ Hill come in at No. 58, while Vanderbilt freshman Jared Curtis lands at No. 59.
“He’ll have to fend off five-star freshman Faizon Brandon, but MacIntyre was a four-star himself and spent the past year learning the ins and outs of the system,” Connelly writes. “The odds are always good that a Josh Heupel QB will produce: Over the past five years, the Vols’ starters have averaged 3,015 yards and 24 TDs per year with a 67% completion rate, and the last time they started a freshman (Nico Iamaleava in 2023), they made the CFP.”
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MacIntyre was a four-star prospect in the 2025 recruiting class, but he didn’t see much action on the field as a true freshman behind starter Joey Aguilar and backup Jake Merklinger. Ultimately, he finished the season with just 69 yards on 7-of-9 passing. But as Connelly mentioned, he is the only one amongst the trio to have time in the Tennessee system and in the quarterback room alongside coach Joey Halzle for a full season. Perhaps that experience, although slight, gives him enough of an advantage to go out and win the job this season.
Connelly mentions ex-Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava in his MacIntyre write-up, who returns to UCLA for a second season with the Bruins in 2026. UCLA went just 3-9 with Iamaleava at the helm last year, and the team itself was a disaster. Aside from a quick three-game win streak with a victory over No. 7 Penn State last year, the Bruins struggled mightily for much of the season. UCLA fired head coach DeShaun Foster after just three games into the year.
ESPN ranks Iamaleava as the No. 39 quarterback in the country, which isn’t too much higher than MacIntyre in the grand scheme of things. Especially considering that one has been to the College Football Playoffs and the other has just nine passing attempts to his name.
“In two years, Iamaleava has learned everything you need to know about supporting casts,” Connelly writes. “He rode a great run game and near-elite defense to a CFP bid at Tennessee in 2024, then found little support and crashed on a 3-9 UCLA team. The former five-star prospect runs well when he chooses to (and will always take far too many sacks), and new Bruins coach Bob Chesney has drastically improved the skill corps around him. That should mean Iamaleava improves as well.”
A handful of SEC quarterbacks land between Iamaleava’s No. 39 ranking and MacIntyre’s No. 49 ranking, including Florida’s Aaron Philo at No. 43, Missouri’s Austin Simmons at No. 44, Kentucky’s Kenny Minchey at No. 47, and Mississippi State’s Kamario Taylor at No. 48. Former Florida and current Baylor quarterback DJ Lagway also lands in that bunch, coming in at No. 40 on the list.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee Football coverage when spring training camp rolls around later this month.
