True freshman Faizon Brandon was named the Tennessee Vols’ starting quarterback on Monday morning.

Vols head coach Josh Heupel confirmed the news on Monday during his weekly media session with reporters.

Heupel also hinted that this competition will continue into the season.

“Faizon gets the nod for Week 1,” said Heupel. “The expectation at the quarterback position, just like at every position, is that guys continue to grow, work and compete every day, and continue to get better throughout the course of the season. The strength of one position group can never be one guy.”

“Every position is week-to-week,” added Heupel when asked if the starting quarterback job is a week-to-week evaluation. “We named him the starter because we believe in the work that he has put in, and how he’s continued to grow and play throughout training camp, and through the second scrimmage. He’s earned that right. But just like every position, you consistently evaluate every snap and every rep.”

Now, this doesn’t mean that Heupel is going to rotate quarterbacks or anything like that. I think we’ll see MacIntyre play against Furman, but it’s going to be Brandon’s job.

However, it certainly sounds like the leash won’t be endlessly long for Brandon. If the true freshman struggles and doesn’t “earn” the right to keep the job, then MacIntyre will get an opportunity. It doesn’t appear that this is a situation where Tennessee is going to stick with Brandon even if he struggles for multiple games early.

With that said, I don’t think Heupel is going to yank Brandon if he has a couple of bad series. Heupel understands as well as anyone that young quarterbacks are going to make mistakes. I think it’s more of a situation where if Brandon keeps making the same mistakes, then we’ll see a change.

Of course, at the end of the day, no one knows how any of this will play out for Tennessee this fall. But it’s sure going to be fun to watch it unfold. Brandon has a lot of upside, and he can quickly be a difference maker for the Vols.