It’s been quite an offseason for the Tennessee Vols, and it’s not even February yet.

The Vols have made some big changes over the last six weeks. Tennessee moved on from defensive coordinator Tim Banks and replaced him with Jim Knowles. The Vols also swiped strength coach Derek Owings from the Indiana Hoosiers (just hours after Indiana won the national championship).

And we’ve seen Tennessee improve its roster through aggressive transfer portal moves, specifically on the defensive side of the ball.

One move the Vols didn’t make this offseason, however, was to add a top transfer quarterback.

Tennessee pursued Arizona State transfer Sam Leavitt, and it was ready to swoop in with a deal if Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson entered the transfer portal instead of the 2026 NFL Draft.

Leavitt, though, signed with LSU after a strange pursuit from Lane Kiffin. And Simpson decided to head to the NFL rather than return to college for his final season of eligibility.

As a result, the feeling is that rising redshirt freshman George MacIntyre makes the most sense to serve as the Vols’ starting quarterback in 2026.

Missing on Sam Leavitt may have been a good thing for Tennessee

Leavitt is a quarterback who would’ve made a lot of sense for Tennessee’s offense. He has a good arm, and he’s dangerous with his legs when plays go off schedule.

There are, however, some concerns that come with signing Leavitt.

For starters, it’s unclear how he’ll recover from the Lisfranc injury that he underwent surgery for in November.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it sounds like the folks at Arizona State didn’t have good things to say about Leavitt.

CBS Sports college football insider Chris Hummer noted this week that “Arizona State did not provide kind feedback on him (Leavitt) behind the scenes.”

Leavitt’s exit from Arizona State was somewhat messy. The high-profile quarterback was the only captain absent from Arizona State’s football banquet in early December, held nearly a month before the transfer portal opened.

“Sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt was the lone Arizona State captain not at the team’s banquet, several attendees told Sun Devil Source,” reported Chris Karpman in December. “The team’s other captains went on stage individually to be recognized and greeted by ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham. When it came time to honor Leavitt, Dillingham told the entire audience that it would be cowardly not to mention Leavitt while recognizing the rest of the team’s captains, even though he wasn’t there, several attendees recounted.”

Culture and fit are important when evaluating transfer players. And I’m not sure Leavitt was a perfect culture fit for Tennessee.

The Vols clearly weren’t “out” on Leavitt, as evidenced by their late pursuit of the dynamic quarterback, but missing on him may be the best thing that happened to Tennessee’s locker room this offseason.

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