Josh Heupel stood in front of the media after Tennessee’s first scrimmage to say the QB competition is still wide open. Joey Aguilar, Jake Merklinger, and George MacIntyre are all still in it, per the HC. “All three of those guys have shown some really good characteristics,” he told Volquest before adding, “There’s some things that each of them and collectively as a group we got to get better at, and that’s always the nature of it at this point in training camp.” But then came a subtle uptick when the App State transfer name camp up.

Tennessee’s offseason already felt like a soap opera after Nico Iamaleava shocked Vol Nation by bolting for the portal to join UCLA. That led to a QB swap with Joey Aguilar leaving the Bruins to come to Knoxville. The former App State star broke several school records and even won Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year and Cure Bowl MVP honors. But if he was supposed to be the easy answer, not everyone is buying it. 

In a new episode on Cover 3 Podcast on August 13, Bud Elliott cut right through the Vols’ optimism with a dose of reality. “I’m not a real big fan of Joey Aguilar,” he said. “I don’t truly disagree with what Heupel did to tell Nico enough’s enough, but decisions have consequences, and I do think that they are worse off trading Nico for Joey Aguilar.” The playoff QBs’ exit still lingers over this camp like a stubborn summer storm. Reports said he skipped a practice before the spring game over NIL frustrations, and Coach Heupel decided to move on. “No one is bigger than the Power T,” he said then. But he also knows what he lost.

During SEC Media Days, Josh Heupel admitted that Tennessee football cared about Nico Iamaleava. “Nico’s going to be a great player and he’s going to have a great career,” he said. “I love Nico. It was hard for the players in that moment, but in leadership of any kind, having clear, consistent transparent communication and also timely, in that it allows your people to handle it the best that they can.” But Bud Elliott didn’t stop at the quarterback swap. 

In his assessment, Elliott also zoomed out to the bigger picture of a freshman offensive tackle in David Sanders, talented but still green, and a receiving corps that doesn’t scream SEC dominance. He’s waiting for someone to step up, but so far, the buzz hasn’t matched the box score. Even the defense, last year’s calling card, looks a little thinner. “Last year, that team came at you in waves,” he said. “This year I think people realized it, there are teams who plucked away some key pieces from that defense. So I’m going to go under here very slightly.” And then there’s the schedule, with “some tricky spots.”

Tennessee sits seventh in ESPN’s SEC Power Rankings with an August 30 date against Syracuse to kick things off in Atlanta. From there, it’s Georgia at home and trips to Mississippi State and Alabama. They avoid some of the SEC’s nastiest back-to-backs, but the landmines are perfectly placed with Kentucky the week after a visit to Tuscaloosa. Then there are the November matchups against Oklahoma, Florida, and Vanderbilt. That’s the backdrop. Now comes the chess match that will decide who’s steering Tennessee’s offense into that gauntlet.

Josh Heupel yet to name Tennessee’s starter

Heading into camp, it was Joey Aguilar vs. Jake Merklinger, at least on paper. The former’s two seasons at App State, where he threw for 6,760 yards and 56 touchdowns, give him the experience card, and Josh Heupel has praised his grasp of the offense. But Frank Rock of The House of Orange dropped a curveball after scrimmage one. George MacIntyre, the 6’6 freshman, was the most accurate QB of the day.

George MacIntyre’s poise has people talking. Josh Heupel says they “challenged him post-spring,” and he responded in fundamentals and presence. The bloodlines are there. He’s the grandson of a Vandy coach, nephew of a former FBS head coach. But there are also the rookie gaps. As the HC said, “There’s some areas that he’s going to have to continue grow in. But I really like what George has done so far.”

Even with the freshman flashes, Pete Nakos of On3 reports Tennessee is “trending toward” naming Joey Aguilar as QB1. The competition isn’t officially over, but the momentum is flowing one way. Two weeks to go, and Knoxville’s QB room is still a mystery. Will the Nico situation haunt 2025? The Vols’ season will hinge on which card Josh Heupel decides to flip over first.