The Faizon Brandon buzz continues to grow
Could he win the job?
Tennessee quarterbacks, from left, Ryan Staub (17), George MacIntyre (15), Mason Phillips (13) and Faizon Brandon (11) during the Vols' first spring football practice in Knoxville on March 16, 2026. | Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Following the final denial for Joey Aguilar’s additional season of eligibility, all eyes of the Tennessee football world turned to George MacIntyre. The 6-6, former 4-star in-state prospect was entering his second season in the program with sudden eyes on the starting quarterback job in Knoxville.
Tennessee went after a couple of senior signal callers in the transfer portal, ultimately coming up empty. It quickly became apparent that a quarterback battle was upon us, set to play out between MacIntyre and 5-star freshman Faizon Brandon. That battle has been ongoing over the past few weeks during spring practice.
“In general I’ve been really pleased with their decision-making, taking care of the football,” Josh Heupel said of his quarterbacks this week. “There’s been a couple of things where they’ve maybe not seen it right, or as the play’s broken down and had to move, body in an awkward body position where they haven’t been as accurate or sound in the decision-making. “Collectively as a group, they’ve been really good.
There’s a couple of things that each of them got to continue to grow in, but that’s spring ball and through the course of summer and training camp, too. ” Enter Brandon, who signed with Tennessee as the No. 2 overall player in the class of 2026.