Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel made it clear this spring that he doesn’t plan to name a quarterback until fall camp.

Redshirt freshman George MacIntyre and true freshman Faizon Brandon are battling for the starting job.

Heupel said at a Big Orange Caravan stop late last month that it’s important for Tennessee’s quarterbacks to get a chance to grow during the summer months after going through spring practice.

“Ultimately when a guy earns it,” said Heupel when asked when he’d like to name a starter. “I think it’s important that they earn it in front of their peers. But I also think it’s important you finish up spring ball — and there’s been a lot of work in the winter through spring ball — but you got an opportunity to sit back, digest everything, continue to grow in May, June, and July and come back a dramatically different player, too.

“So I think for all those reasons, it’s important that you have the competition [still] going into training camp. That’s how we’ve handled it in our history, and I think it forces competition through the summer and [provides] a lot of growth.”

Multiple reports indicate one Vols quarterback is in the lead entering the summer months

Heupel, as has typically been the case during his time at Tennessee, clearly doesn’t want a lot of noise around the quarterback battle this summer. He seemingly wants to let one of those guys earn the job in front of their teammates, instead of being crowned by the media.

Unfortunately for Heupel, that’s not what’s happening.

Multiple reports over the last week have indicated that Brandon is currently leading the battle.

Perhaps none of those reports were as impactful as the one that On3’s Chris Low dropped on Sunday during Rocky Top Insider’s The RTI Low-Down.

“[I] had a chance to talk with some of the guys, some of the coaches, this week over there on campus,” said Low. “I know there’s a lot of attention on the quarterback. Is it going to be Brandon? Is it going to be George MacIntyre? I think Brandon is the guy unless he does not play well in preseason — if he just has a bad camp — or if MacIntyre just plays lights out. I think coming out of the spring, the way I would put it is Brandon has positioned himself nicely to be the starter. He still has to go lock it down. You can’t fool the players.

“Let’s remember, Josh Heupel played quarterback. He understands the importance of the players around the quarterback buying into that guy. They know who is the best guy — the guy who gives them the best chance to win. Yes, he’s (Brandon) a freshman, but as Josh Heupel has now told me a number of times, he played a true freshman the entire season with Dillon Gabriel at UCF. So he is not not going to play Faizon Brandon simply because he’s a true freshman, if he’s the best guy. That’s still to be determined.”

The last thing Low said — that it’s still to be determined whether Brandon will be the best option to start in 2026 — is exactly why Heupel didn’t want the noise. Because a lot can change between now and September 5 when the Vols kick off against Furman. Maybe MacIntyre takes off this summer and passes Brandon. Or maybe Brandon hits a freshman wall. You never know how these competitions will play out when there’s still so much time to go before the season starts.

But regardless of how it plays out, Heupel now has some quarterback noise to deal with this summer.

Though given what Heupel dealt with last season — when starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava transferred to UCLA after spring practice — the sixth-year Tennessee head coach should be adept at handling the noise.