Former Vols quarterback Jarrett Guarantano was at Tennessee during a time that was especially tumultuous for the program.

After redshirting in 2016, Guarantano started 32 games from 2017 to 2020. The Vols went 20-28 during those four seasons under Butch Jones (2017) and Jeremy Pruitt (2018-2020).

Despite the lack of success — Tennessee wasn’t stocked with elite talent during those years — Guarantano earned a reputation for being one of the toughest players to ever wear the orange and white.

The New Jersey native played through a broken hand, and he always got up after getting hit relentlessly. It may not have always shown up in the win column, but Guarantano undoubtedly left it all on the field every time he played.

It would be easy for Guarantano to look back on his time in college, given the state of Tennessee football at the time, and wish that he made a different decision.

But that’s not the case at all.

“There’s not a single school that I would have rather played for than the University of Tennessee,” said Guarantano this week on WNML’s Josh and Swain. “And there’s not a decision that I would have made differently in my life by going to any other school. So I appreciate the love that I’m getting now, and I’m super excited to be a part of Tennessee football as much as possible.”

Guarantano noted that he’s planning to come to Knoxville for a couple of weeks this season for the Vols’ games against Texas and Auburn.

It’s great to see JG, who finished his career at Washington State in 2021, back around the program. He certainly gave his all for Tennessee during his five seasons on Rocky Top.