Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Vols have a big quarterback decision to make this offseason.

And they better already have a good idea of what that decision will be.

As it stands, the Vols are slated to have three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster in 2026 — George MacIntyre, Jake Merklinger, and Faizon Brandon (this year’s starting quarterback, Joey Aguilar, won’t have any eligibility remaining after the 2025 season).

The expectation is that Merklinger will enter the NCAA transfer portal, which would leave the Vols with just MacIntyre and Brandon on the roster. That’s obviously not ideal, as MacIntyre will be a redshirt freshman next fall and Brandon will be a true freshman.

How is Josh Heupel going to approach the quarterback position for the Vols this offseason?

VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs joined 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will on Friday, and he was asked about the quarterback position and how Heupel may approach it this offseason.

“What can you financially get?” said Hubbs when asked about Tennessee’s offseason quarterback plans. “Where’s your financial investment in the other two? If you bring somebody in who is of name — a guy who’s got a lot of experience — are you stunting the growth of what you have on your roster? Does what you have on your roster decide to look around and explore their options? Because there’s only one football. I think there are a lot of different dynamics that are in play in that deal.

“You’re also going to a harder schedule next year with nine conference games. How much has a guy like George MacIntyre developed this offseason physically? How much bigger has he gotten? Has he put himself in a situation where you feel like he can hold up for 13 games and he can mentally handle it? But more importantly, physically, can he handle it? Can he take what’s happened to Joey Aguilar the last three games? Those are all continuing decisions that you have to look at. Where is Faizon? He’s not played his senior season. He’s coming off an injury on his throwing hand. How much do you think he can learn and get ready in nine months? Do you think you can go win with a freshman?”

“I will tell you this — you better have three scholarship quarterbacks on your roster next year,” added Hubbs. “Now, is that going out and getting a proven guy and suddenly you’ve got seven or eight million dollars invested in your quarterback position for one season? I don’t know that you go there, but you better not show up with two scholarship quarterbacks, and one’s a redshirt freshman and one’s a true freshman and say, ‘Hey, here’s who we are.’

“I think you better have some experience in your room there. And we’re doing all of this with the assumption that Jake Merklinger is not going to be back. And we don’t know exactly where he’s at right now, but guys want to play. And you know he’s probably looking around wondering if he’s really going to get a legitimate opportunity to play at Tennessee.”

It’s not an easy spot for Heupel to be in. Tennessee needs to go all out to win next season (that doesn’t mean it’s a championship or bust mentality, but the Vols, in my opinion, need to put all of the resources they can into making a run next season). At the same time, however, Heupel clearly likes MacIntyre and Brandon a lot — those are his guys. The last thing Heupel wants to do is risk running them off.

But as Hubbs asked, can Tennessee compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff next season with a freshman quarterback, as the SEC moves to a nine-game conference schedule?

That’s an impossible question to answer. But Heupel has to find a way to answer it this offseason.

This article was originally published on A to Z Sports Tennessee Vols as Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Vols have a big quarterback decision to make this offseason.

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