Who is going to start at quarterback for the Tennessee Vols in 2025? 

That's the biggest question that Vols fans will be asking over the next six weeks. 

Over the next month, the Volunteers will feature a three-man quarterback competition between UCLA transfer Joey Aguilar, redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger, and true freshman George MacIntyre. 

Aguilar is considered by many as the favorite to win the battle due to his two seasons of starting experience at Appalachian State (Merklinger has attempted just nine career passes and MacIntyre, obviously, has never played in a college football game).  

But while Aguilar has plenty of experience, he has never played with anyone on Tennessee's roster. If he's going to win the job, he'll need to quickly develop chemistry with his new teammates.

Fortunately for the Vols, it sounds like he's already excelling in that area.

Tennessee senior tight end Miles Kitselman joined 104.5 The Zone's 3HL at SEC Media Days in Atlanta and he explained how Aguilar has quickly developed relationships with guys on the team. 

"First of all, I've known Joey for, what, a month now, and he's got an invite to my wedding, if that kind of puts it into perspective," said Kitselman when asked about his relationship with Aguilar. "I saw that he committed and I reached out to him on Instagram saying, 'Hey man, let's get up. Let's get together. Let's go get something to eat. Let's go do whatever you want to do, go fish or go golf, whatever it is.'

"Joey is just one of those guys that'll walk in the room and you can just feel his presence and how happy he is just to be there. And he'll go up to anybody and talk to them. I was telling somebody else earlier, I think he was here for a week and he pretty much knew everybody's name on the team already. And that's a hard task to do [with] 125 guys. He's just one of those guys that cares, and he's not above anybody. And he gives everything into this team. Me and him are super close, and he's close to a lot of guys on this team."

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It's important to note that Kitselman wasn't endorsing Aguilar as the Vols' starting quarterback. Kitselman also had plenty of great things to say about Merklinger and MacIntyre at SEC Media Days. 

The comments from Kitselman were notable because it shows how much effort Aguilar has put into making himself part of the team, despite just arriving in Knoxville a month ago. It shows that Aguilar isn't showing up and just assuming that he'll win the job because he has experience — he knows he has to earn the trust and respect of his Vols teammates. 

And based on Kitselman's comments, it sounds like that's exactly what he's doing. 

By the way, Kitselman noted that his wedding is set for July 4, 2026. 

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Good sign for the Vols in 2025