By Mark Nagi
Spring practice is now complete for the Vols. Back on April 11, over 48,000 fans showed up at Neyland Stadium to watch the Orange & White Game on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.
Those who witnessed the scrimmage might have their own opinions on who the starting QB should be in the Fall, but the only opinion that matters is held by Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel. And if he has decided, he isn’t letting anyone know.
The battle will be between redshirt freshman George MacInytre, true freshman Faizon Brandon, and junior Ryan Staub, a transfer from Colorado.
“I love the way that they’ve competed with themselves, with each other,” said Heupel. “I love the way that they’ve grown every single day. Each of them, maybe, had a day where it was a little bit below what they had shown and their expectations too. They responded and came back the next day, and were a lot better… I like the work that they’ve put in and where they’re at. Now we got to continue to grow here. We have four weeks before we break from school, and then we get back to our summer schedule and the routine that they have to go through to continue to grow and (I) expect everybody on this roster, and the quarterbacks, included to be a lot better when they come back, and we start in August.”
The offseason is always huge for every football player, but especially for young quarterbacks. MacInytre discussed what he’ll be working on over the next few months.
“I would say just keep building a relationship with the receivers,” said MacIntyre. “Over spring ball, I feel like we installed almost the whole offense, so we have that to look at and to watch throughout the offseason. We’ve got all these plays that we’ve already ran, and all this stuff to continue to grow in, and then just growing in it with the receivers, the tight ends, the running backs, and the pass game as well, getting that chemistry.”
Staub also understands that there is a lot of work to be done before the entire roster regroups in mid-summer.
“I think for me, the biggest thing I need to improve on is my feet,” said Staub. “There’s a lot of changes. I’ve got some old habits that I have to get rid of with this new system and just continue to grow and continue to get better every day. For me, it’s defining my feet, defining my eyes, and I’ll be in the right spot.”
Of course, MacIntyre is the only player in this trio who has any experience in this system.
“Things definitely surprised me a little bit,” said Brandon of the transition from high school to college. “I will say it’s definitely slowed down for me as where I am now. I feel like it has slowed down, but I still think there are a lot of things I have to work on to make me better throughout this process.”
Heupel said, “Each of them has to be on their journey of building and mastering their fundamentals, their technique, ownership, and the scheme, and that’s what we do, and then mastering what’s happening on the other side of the football too.”
Tennessee opens the 2026 season at home against Furman at Neyland Stadium on September 5.
