From the end of the 2025 season, to a transfer portal battle and then a fight in court — the Tennessee quarterback battle still isn’t set, and it won’t be until this fall. Tries to land Sam Leavitt and even Ty Simpson came up empty, then a challenge to the NCAA to get another season of eligibility for Joey Aguilar also failed.
Josh Heupel is left in a position that he has yet to see in Knoxville. George MacIntyre and Faizon Brandon, two of his own hand-picked quarterback recruits, will battle it out
for the starting job this fall. You have to go back to 2021 to find the last true quarterback battle, with Hendon Hooker and Joe Milton both going for the job in Heupel’s first season with Tennessee.
This one is different though, featuring two guys that have extremely limited or no college playing experience at all. On Monday, the battle began in an official capacity on the practice field.
“Yeah, it is open,” Heupel said, confirming what everyone already knew. “We had that conversation with all of them as we started the winter, when they all arrived here. Had that conversation again as we were wrapping up our winter before we got into spring ball. We’ve had a couple of those battles. You guys know that we always communicate with those guys openly, transparently, communicate with those guys together. Don’t expect a guy to be named here during the course of spring ball. I think it’s important that all the guys in that room learn and grow throughout the course of spring, also have a chance to go back in your summer months, digest it, reinstall and come back a much better player and compete and earn it in front of their teammates as you get into training camp.”
Heupel and his staff went through a different situation last season, getting Joey Aguilar up to speed in the offense while Jake Merklinger tried to win the job. It was widely expected that Aguilar would eventually pull away though, and that’s what happened.
This time around, MacIntrye — who generated some buzz last season as the forgotten third man in that equation — begins with the lead. The former 4-star prospect now has a little over a year inside of the program and has an obvious head start with the ins and outs of the offense.
“George obviously has more time on task with the general basis of what we’re doing,” Heupel said following practice on Monday. “But as those guys have come into the program, gaining an understanding of what we’re doing, the communication, how they’re calling protections, adjusting protections, our run-game rules, being able to control everything that we’re doing. And then starting to master what’s going on on the back end, from the defensive structures as well.”
Brandon enters the picture as a 5-star true freshman, finishing the 2026 cycle as the No. 2 overall player in the class. The longtime Tennessee commit lead his high school to a North Carolina state title last season, fighting back from an injury that sidelined him for much of the season.
Now back to 100 percent health, Brandon will try to win the job in his first season with the program.
“Yeah, both of those guys are quick-minded,” Heupel said of MacIntyre and Brandon. “They grasp what we’re doing as we give them the playbook extremely well. Both have the ability to be accurate with the football. Strong enough arm to extend the field vertically. Both guys that I think anticipate windows extremely well over the middle of the football field. And fundamentally for both of them, there’s still a bunch of growth out there, for Ryan (Staub), as well. But that’s what these opportunities are about, is continually grow every day.”
The Tennessee passing attack came back to life last season with Aguilar after missing some elements in 2023 and 2024. Aguilar brought back the downfield passing game with a little help from Chris Brazzell, and Heupel is hoping to continue that trend in 2026. MacIntyre has been praised for his touch on those downfield attempts, while Brandon earned high marks at the high school level for his efficiency and anticipation.
Now both are diving in head first during practice, each trying to master the offense and build chemistry with receivers.
“You’re patient in understanding that just like every player inside your program there’s going to be growth,” Heupel said. “There’s gonna be mistakes. What you want to see is them not making the same mistake twice. Constant growth in what they’re doing and how they’re controlling things at the quarterback position.”
Tennessee will continue spring practice over the next four weeks before breaking for the summer months. Odds are, the staff will have a pretty solid idea of who their guy is following next month’s orange and white game. Of course, we’ll have to wait until training camp in the fall to get the big reveal.
