The Tennessee Vols are nowhere close to naming a starting quarterback.

Tennessee, in fact, is probably further away from knowing who its starting quarterback will be at the end of spring practice than the program was at the start of spring practice.

The feeling going into spring practice was that redshirt freshman George MacIntyre was the overwhelming favorite to win the job due to his one season of experience in head coach Josh Heupel’s offense.

But now that spring practice is over, it’s clear this quarterback battle is dead even.

“I thought George had a slight lead going into the spring, just because he’s been in the system for a year,” said VolQuest’s Austin Price last week on 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will. “I think that lead is gone. I think it’s pretty even here as we exit spring, and it’ll be a highly contested battle going into fall camp.”

George MacIntyre needs to process better moving forward to win the starting quarterback job

Price joined McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning on Monday and he shared some details on where the quarterback battle stands between MacIntyre and Brandon.

The longtime Vols insider specifically noted that MacIntyre needs to process better to secure the starting job.

Price was also quick to note that MacIntyre hasn’t “fallen out of favor” or anything like that — he simply highlighted some areas for improvement for the young quarterback.

“George, I thought, last year did have a lot of [momentum],” said Price. “After that first scrimmage of fall camp (in 2025), the notion was being tossed around in the building that if he had more time, and he was a little bigger, he might contend (for the starting job). But the reality is, to put it in golf terms, it’s a lot easier to go hit your driver on the driving range when it’s a wide open field versus going to the first tee and you’ve got a pond left and woods right. The nerves kick in when all of a sudden you’re the guy, and you’re expected to be the guy.

“I think for [MacIntyre], he got better as the spring went along. He did not process things great early in spring ball. I think it did get better as the spring went along. And again, I think that’s why it’s more of a kind of wide open race right here as we head into fall camp.”

“I think for George, it’s about getting bigger over the next few months,” added Price. “If he can put on 10 to 15 pounds with the new strength coach, Derek Owings, that’d be fantastic. And again, it’s about processing and getting it out on time. That’s where he has to excel. If he’s not excelling in that world, it’s hard for me to believe that he’ll be Tennessee’s starting quarterback. If he can pick that back up, which is what he was doing a year ago without the pressure of being the guy, then I think he can still win the starting job come August.”

There’s certainly more pressure on MacIntyre than Brandon — simply due to the fact that MacIntyre is a year older. It can be tough to deal with that as a young player. I’m sure MacIntyre, at times, is trying to not make mistakes, instead of just letting it rip and not second guessing himself.

Mistakes are going to happen — it’s part of competition. But MacIntyre can’t worry about mistakes that haven’t happened yet, because that’s inevitably when a player’s biggest mistakes will happen.

Now that spring is in the rearview, MacIntyre can take a minute to catch his breath, evaluate his play during spring practice, and make the necessary adjustments before fall camp arrives in a few months.