Josh Heupel is back at SEC Media Days with the same question hanging over Tennessee that has followed him into most of his recent seasons in Knoxville: who’s taking the first snap at quarterback?
This time, there’s no returning starter to point to. Not after Nico Iamaleava’s departure sent the Volunteers back into the market and left the job to be sorted out between redshirt freshman George MacIntyre and freshman Faizon Brandon.
Heupel didn’t dress it up in Tampa. The competition is open, and camp will decide it.
“I think that guy, like everybody else, has to earn it in front of their peers,” Heupel said.
That’s familiar territory for Tennessee under Heupel. He’s heading into his sixth season and, aside from 2022 with Hendon Hooker, he has arrived at Media Days without a returning starter every year.
Hooker’s 2022 run remains the gold standard - SEC Offensive Player of the Year, fifth in Heisman voting, 3,135 passing yards, 27 touchdowns and just two interceptions. Since then, it’s been a revolving door: Joe Milton in 2023, then Iamaleava as a true freshman, and now another reset.
Heupel pointed to that history as proof the system can handle it.
“I know much is going to be made about our quarterback situation as we come in, starting our fifth different quarterback in five years. We’ve done that historically,” the Tennessee head coach said.
“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.”
MacIntyre enters the race with a little bit of experience in the offense already. He played 18 snaps over two games last season after arriving in Knoxville as a tall, skinny gunslinger ranked No. 151 nationally and the No. 13 quarterback in the 247Sports Composite rankings. Tennessee beat out Alabama and LSU for him, and he chose to stay close to home after growing up in the Nashville suburbs.
Heupel was high on him when he signed in late 2024.
“George has got a great ceiling and a great future in front of him,” Heuepel said when MacIntyre signed in late 2024. “He is an extremely athletic, young guy, and you see that on the football field, his ability to improvise, extend plays, and make plays outside of the pocket.
Got a chance to see him play basketball multiple times. Extremely fluid and natural on the basketball court.”
Brandon, though, is the bigger-name prospect and the one carrying the louder expectations. He’s the No. 10 overall player and the No. 3 quarterback in the 2026 class, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound five-star who helped Tennessee build a top-10 recruiting class after giving the Vols an early commitment.
Heupel’s description of Brandon last December made the upside plain.
“His ability to throw the ball with power, with accuracy,” Heuepel said of Brandon’s best traits last December. “His ability to have touch on the football when it’s time to do that.
He’s got the athleticism to extend and make plays as a scrambler. He’s a scramble-to-throw guy first, but man, when he does tuck it, he’s got the ability to be a weapon and pick up massive yards with his feet.”
The learning curve for either quarterback won’t just be about memorizing the playbook. Tennessee’s offense asks a lot: tempo, run-pass decisions based on the box count, and timing with receivers on option routes. Iamaleava showed last season that a young quarterback can pick it up quickly, but the job still demands more than just knowing where to go with the ball.
What Brandon already brings is the kind of confidence that can matter when the pressure rises.
“This kid’s got moxie,” a source told CBS Sports. “He’s got the ability obviously, but he’s also got that moxie, personality and confidence.”
Heupel knows the quarterback won’t be asked to do it alone. Tennessee’s running game should help, and DeSean Bishop is the centerpiece there after a breakout season. The Knoxville native, who started as a walk-on, rushed for 1,076 yards and 16 touchdowns on 182 carries and earned second-team All-SEC honors.
The offensive line has some turnover, too. Starting left tackle Lance Heard is gone to Kentucky on an NIL deal reportedly worth $2 million, but Tennessee brings back five linemen with starting experience and added Ory Williams from LSU at right tackle. The bigger question is whether the protection holds up in the biggest games, where sacks helped swing losses last season.
Tennessee also has to replace its top receiver, Chris Brazell II, who’s headed to the NFL. But Mike Matthews and Braylon Staley are back as the second- and third-leading receivers, and starting tight end Ethan Davis returns as well.
The schedule doesn’t leave much room for a long quarterback apprenticeship. Tennessee opens with a shortened non-conference slate that includes two buy games and a road trip to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech before Texas comes to town on Sept. 26.
That reality may force Heupel to live with a little uncertainty early, even if he’d prefer a clear answer.
“When a guy has earned it, you put him in that position where he starts getting consistent reps with the ones. But the strength of any one position can’t be just one guy,” Heupel said. “History will tell you that there are times when you’ll need multiple guys.”
For Tennessee, that means the race in camp matters - but so does what comes after it. Heupel has done this before, and he knows the starter may need time to grow into the job once the competition ends.
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