Tennessee football is going to have a new quarterback leading the offense this year. Whether it’s Faizon Brandon or George MacIntyre, it’ll be an unproven and inexperienced option leading the charge.
Vols head coach Josh Heupel is well aware that this is going to be a top talking point throughout the offseason until the ball is snapped. In his opening statement at SEC Media Days, he addressed it head-on. In response, he made some points that should calm some UT fans who are anxious about the position in 2026.
Heupel is starting his fifth different quarterback in five years (2022-26) and his seventh in the past nine years dating back to UCF. While he’d rather have a returner, he is pointing to the success he’s had in those years.
“I know much is going to be made about our quarterback situation as we come in, starting our fifth different quarterback in five years,” Heupel said. “We’ve done that historically. At some point I’m going to have the opportunity to come back here with a returning starter at quarterback. Seven out of the last nine years we’ve had a different starting quarterback, and seven out of the last nine years top 10 in the country in scoring. We’re going to have a guy that’s going to be ready to compete at an elite championship level.
“Whenever you start a young quarterback, it’s important the other guys around him play at an extremely high level. We have a lot of guys that will put those guys in a good position to go do their jobs. It’s important you tie everything, special teams and defensively, as well. Great thing is those two guys are going to have an opportunity to go earn it in front of their peers. We’re going to let the quarterback competition play out here during the course of training camp. I think that guy, like everybody else, has to earn it in front of their peers.”
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While Heupel got his first look at where both quarterbacks are at in the spring and into the summer, the deciding stretch is coming up soon. The Vols will start fall camp on August 5 with a priority on finding the next signal-caller.
For any position battle across the depth chart, Heupel is looking to see how players learn from the previous portion of the offseason and apply it to the final stretch during fall camp.
“I think in particular with all of your young players, but really everyone on your roster, you got four weeks of off-season on the back end of spring ball. You got an entire summer,” Heupel said. “These guys have a chance if they do it the right way, if they have the right mindset and work ethic and are detailed in everything that it takes to become their best, they show up in training camp and can be a dramatically different player.
“So that’s why you have competition in training camp. Guys get reps, and you can judge where they’re at currently and where you feel like they’re gonna continue to progress to. And ultimately, it’s a player’s responsibility to learn it, earn it, and go take a job, prove he’s gonna play at a championship level. And once they do that, then it’s our job to put them in a position to be successful.”
There is no timeline for when Tennessee will name a starting quarterback. In his prior quarterback battles on Rocky Top, he’s made the announcement prior to the first game and hasn’t let it leak into the season, though. The opener is a home game against Furman on September 5.
