'I don't think he wants to let go of that' – Vols insider says Tennessee's QB competition will be intense during fall camp
We're just a few weeks away from the start of what should be the Tennessee Vols' most compelling fall camp in years. For the first time since 2021, the Vols will feature a wide-open quarterback competition. With last year's starter Nico Iamaleava off to UCLA (via the transfer portal), Tennessee will have a three-man quarterback […]
We're just a few weeks away from the start of what should be the Tennessee Vols' most compelling fall camp in years.
For the first time since 2021, the Vols will feature a wide-open quarterback competition.
With last year's starter Nico Iamaleava off to UCLA (via the transfer portal), Tennessee will have a three-man quarterback competition between UCLA transfer Joey Aguilar, redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger, and true freshman George MacIntyre.
Numerous media outlets have already crowned Aguilar as the likely starter — mostly due to his two seasons of starting experience at Appalachian State.
Merklinger, however, has the most experience in Heupel's offense. MacIntyre, meanwhile, might be the most talented of the three quarterbacks (though he's also the most inexperienced).
VolQuest's Brent Hubbs joined 104.5 The Zone's Ramon and Will on Friday, where he previewed what he expects to be an "intense" quarterback competition.
Hubbs pointed out that Aguilar has impressed a lot of folks at Tennessee with how he carries himself, while also noting that Merklinger is eager to prove that he's worthy of being the Volunteers' starting quarterback this fall.
"I think he's (Aguilar) been very mature about how he goes about his business," said Hubbs of Aguilar. "He's put his head down and gone to work and worked on that chemistry with guys and his relationships with guys. He's impressed a lot of people in the building with how he carries himself.
"I think that competition is going to be fascinating, because there's so much assumption that it's Joey Aguilar (that's going to win the job). And it makes sense because he's got experience. But this [battle] kind of has an old school feel to it. I mean, Jake Merklinger, I'm sure he's not elated with the fact that it's all Joey Aguilar talk all the time. And he's like, wait a minute, hello, I know the offense better than he does. I'm over here, quit ruling me out. And then there's George MacIntyre, who's put on 20 pounds since he's been at Tennessee. He processes things fast, makes good decisions, and he's just laying in the weeds."
"I think that's going to be a healthy competition," continued Hubbs. "But I think it's going to be a pretty intense competition in that quarterback room, too. I think Merklinger, I think he got a taste and the thought of being the number one quarterback when Nico left. That week or two after, he was QB1. And I don't think he wants to let go of that. And then George went from, I'm not gonna play, to wait a minute, I'm in the competition. And then Joey Aguilar is looking at it going, well, I could step in there and be the guy at an SEC program….and play in front of 100,000 people, I'm not going to screw this thing up. So I think everybody's got their own kind of drive with it. But I think it's going to be a pretty intense competition between all three of those. It should be fun."
It's impossible to predict how this competition will go — simply because we haven't seen how these quarterbacks will function in Josh Heupel's offense (outside of limited action from Merklinger last season).
One thing, however, is certain: this quarterback competition should bring out the best in all three of the Vols' scholarship quarterbacks.
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