For now, the Tennessee Vols are expected to go into spring practice with three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster — George MacIntyre, Faizon Brandon, and Ryan Staub.

MacIntyre is a rising redshirt freshman who attempted nine passes in 2025, Brandon is an incoming five-star signee, and Staub is a recent transfer addition who previously played for the Colorado Buffaloes.

The expectation is that Tennessee will feature a three-man quarterback competition this spring and fall.

There’s still some hope, though, that Joey Aguilar, Tennessee’s starting quarterback in 2025, will be granted an additional season of eligibility.

Aguilar, who will turn 25 in June, has already played seven seasons of college football, but only three of those seasons (two at Appalachian State and one at Tennessee) were at NCAA schools. The other four seasons were at junior colleges (two seasons at the City College of San Francisco and two seasons at Diablo Valley).

A hearing is set for Feb. 10 to determine if a preliminary injunction that halts the NCAA eligibility rules regarding junior college athletes will be granted. If it isn’t, Aguilar’s college career will effectively be over.

One question no one seems to be asking about Joey Aguilar’s potential return to Tennessee

The assumption is that if Aguilar is eligible to return to Tennessee in 2026, then he’ll automatically be the Vols’ starting quarterback.

But should that be the case?

Now, I’m not saying Aguilar shouldn’t be the guy — he may be the best possible option. After all, he has a season of starting experience in Tennessee’s offense. But while last season was impressive — the Vols had the No. 6 scoring offense in the nation — it was clear that Aguilar is limited as a playmaker. He was also the first UT quarterback under Josh Heupel to throw double-digit interceptions (10) in a season (though a couple of those weren’t necessarily Aguilar’s fault).

The point is that maybe the Vols should have an open quarterback competition even if Aguilar returns.

MacIntyre and Brandon, while short on experience, both offer significantly more upside than Aguilar, who is viewed as likely to go undrafted if he doesn’t return to Tennessee.

“If [Aguilar] can win the eligibility case, if that were to happen, Tennessee would gladly welcome him back with open arms,” said VolQuest’s Austin Price this week on WNML’s Josh and Swain. “And it would certainly change Tennessee’s floor. I mean, I’m not gonna say that Tennessee’s ceiling wouldn’t be better with either one of the two young guys — because you just don’t know. But I do think the floor would be significantly higher with Joey Aguilar. And how much better would he be in year two in the system compared to year one? Which was not even a full year one (Aguilar arrived after spring practice last year).”

As Price noted, Tennessee’s floor would definitely be higher with Aguilar under center next fall. But I also believe Tennessee would be wise to give MacIntyre and Brandon a legitimate shot to beat out Aguilar if he returns, simply because they have the talent to do things on the field that Aguilar can’t. If either player is ready, they may be able to raise the ceiling of the Vols’ offense compared to what Aguilar could offer.

Of course, it’s still a longshot that Aguilar even has the option to return to Tennessee in 2026. It’s viewed by most as unlikely that he’ll be granted an additional season of eligibility.

Tennessee, though, will know in less than two weeks if Aguilar will be an option for the program next season.

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