The best QB plan for the Tennessee Vols in 2025 won't be popular, but it would be the smartest approach for the program
The Tennessee Vols are searching for a transfer quarterback in the wake of Nico Iamaleava's unexpected departure from the program. And the search, so far, hasn't been very fruitful. “It’s f—ing wild, I would be sweating if I was Tennessee,” said a Power Four general manager to On3. “Tennessee might need to call someone and […]
The Tennessee Vols are searching for a transfer quarterback in the wake of Nico Iamaleava's unexpected departure from the program.
And the search, so far, hasn't been very fruitful.
“It’s f—ing wild, I would be sweating if I was Tennessee,” said a Power Four general manager to On3. “Tennessee might need to call someone and pay them $4 million to get a quarterback."
Tennessee would love to add an SEC starting-caliber quarterback to the roster, but those types of moves don't usually happen after spring practice. And even if the Vols manage to land a "big-time" quarterback, there's no guarantee that the new quarterback would adjust to Tennessee's offense and build chemistry with UT's wide receivers by the start of the 2025 season. It's a tough spot for the program due to the timing of the situation.
That's why I think the smartest approach for the Vols would be to add a quarterback for depth (Tennessee currently has just two scholarship quarterbacks on the roster) and let redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and true freshman George MacIntyre battle for the starting job this fall (Merklinger would be the obvious favorite to win the job due to his year of experience in the offense).
Rolling with Merklinger, who is mostly an unknown at this point (he's attempted just nine passes in his collegiate career), would lower the ceiling (on paper) for the Vols in 2025. But is that a bad thing? Teams tend to play better when expectations aren't high. Without the weight of College Football Playoff expectations, we could see a Tennessee team that plays free and easy and ends up surpassing expectations this fall (that was the scenario for UT in 2022 and that season worked out pretty well).
That's not the main reason, though, that I think the Vols should go with the Merklinger/MacIntyre combo in 2025.
The best asset that a quarterback room can have is continuity. I think that's especially important for Tennessee with five-star quarterback Faizon Brandon coming to Rocky Top in 2026. The ideal situation for Tennessee is for Merklinger and MacIntyre to establish themselves as the leaders of the quarterback room in 2025 before Brandon's arrival in 2026. That's the best scenario for the quarterback room's continued success and growth.
Additionally, Merklinger (or MacIntyre, who knows how things could play out) would be better suited to lead the offense as the starter in 2026 with a year of valuable experience under his belt. And the Vols would be in a better spot to potentially compete for a championship in 2026 thanks to that experience.
The NIL/transfer portal era has created this weird championship or bust mentality in college football. There's pressure to put a championship roster together every single year, which often suppresses playing time for youngsters, instead of focusing on continuity and culture. It's not realistic to compete for championships every single year. Sure, that's the goal. And it should be the goal. But not every roster is going to be capable of winning a championship. Some years, you're just not going to have the right pieces. Championship players and championship rosters aren't a dime a dozen. Just look at the 2024 season for example. When Ohio State was at their best, no one was beating that team.
Instead of gearing up to win a battle that there's no guarantee they'll win, the Vols should play the long game with their quarterback room. They should accept that a less-than-ideal situation involving Iamaleava went down this spring and they should focus on building long term success. That might mean that Tennessee only goes 8-5 or 9-4 in 2025. And that's ok. Some seasons, the stars just don't align. But the Vols fan base can't react with negativity if that happens. Because that's only going to make success for the program harder to attain beyond 2025. I know Tennessee fans want to win. The standard is high and it should be. But the constant negativity isn't going to help the program win games and attract elite players. In fact, it'll do quite the opposite.
Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin has the best take yet on the breakup between QB Nico Iamaleava and the Tennessee Vols
Lane is the voice of reason on this
