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The Tennessee Volunteers will have a different starting quarterback for a fifth year in 2026. With Joey Aguilar unable to win a court order granting him additional eligibility, coach Josh Heupel is conducting a three-man quarterback battle in fall camp.
Colorado transfer Ryan Staub is set to battle redshirt freshman George MacIntyre and true freshman Faizon Brandon. Huepel couldn’t escape the questions about the revolving door at quarterback on The Paul Finebaum Show on Monday evening.
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“At some point I’m going to be on this show and we’re going to have a returning quarterback,” Heupel said with a laugh.
Tennessee, of course, was caught at least a little unawares by Aguilar’s situation. The capable 2025 starter had hoped to win a court ruling that might have granted him additional eligibility, as others around the country have done.
He wasn’t able to win it. So Tennessee gets set to move on.
“Joey had a chance to potentially get eligible,” Josh Heupel said. “I think a lot of people inside of our program and administration probably felt like there was a good chance of that happening. Ultimately he didn’t.
“We felt good about the two young guys we had inside of our program. Feel good about where they’re at and them being prepared to go play at a really high level. But there’s a lot of things that are just unknown in today’s landscape. You have to have a plan. You have to clearly give that vision to your staff and to your players, but you’ve also got to be able to move on a dime.”
A year and some change ago, Tennessee went through the same sudden shift. That was because Nico Iamaleava suddenly left the program over disagreements over his NIL situation. In stepped Aguilar.
This time it’s the freshmen and Staub who are on deck. Josh Heupel seems confident he can make it work.
“Different circumstances, as it always is,” Heupel said. “Joey had experience. We got to know and start with Joey in late May, early June last year. These guys have been with us since the end of January as we came back to campus. They have a lot of time inside of what we’re doing. Excited about who and what they are and ready to go compete with these guys.”
So what’s the plan going forward for Tennessee as fall camp fast approaches? Well, don’t expect a battle to last into the season.
Josh Heupel likes to name a starter and let him run with the job. That’s how he’s done it in the past, and nothing so far would indicate that might change.
“I’m going to name the guy, but his work on the practice field and being around our guys, he’s going to earn it in front of his peers,” Heupel said. “We’ve had seven different quarterbacks in the last nine years and we’ve had a ton of success. Been top 10 in the country in scoring seven out of those nine years.
“That guy gets a chance to be the artist and paint the picture. That’s the fun thing about having a different quarterback. They’re all a little bit different, but all those guys have had to earn it in front of their peers. The team will rally and know who the guy is and be ready to play and go help him out.”
