​Tennessee will begin its sixth season under head coach Josh Heupel on September 5, when the Vols open at Neyland Stadium against Furman in a 3:30 p.m. ET game that will be carried on SEC Network+. As fall practice gets underway, Tennessee has four quarterbacks on the roster: early-enrollee freshman Brandon Faizon; redshirt freshman George MacIntyre; redshirt freshman Mason Phillips; and redshirt junior transfer Ryan Staub from Colorado.
MacIntyre saw action in two games as a freshman in 2025, playing against East Tennessee State and New Mexico State. The 6-foot-6, 208-pound quarterback completed 7 of 9 passes for 69 yards, with his longest throw traveling 17 yards.
Phillips made his collegiate debut in the fourth quarter against East Tennessee State on September 6, 2025, finishing with 18 rushing yards on two carries. The 6-foot-1, 188-pound signal-caller’s longest rush was 16 yards.
Staub, who transferred to Tennessee after three seasons at Colorado (2023–25), appeared in 12 games for the Buffaloes, completing 53 of 98 passes for 681 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions. The 6-foot-1, 204-pound quarterback started in two games: at Houston on September 12, 2025, and at Utah on November 25, 2023. Staub’s 2024 season included a 36-20 loss to BYU in which he completed 19 of 35 passes for 204 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, adding 36 rushing yards on 11 attempts, including three sacks. In a 2023 loss to Utah, he went 17 of 24 for 195 yards and one TD, but was credited with -12 rushing yards on four attempts and two sacks.
Faizon Brandon joined Tennessee as a highly touted recruit. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound quarterback committed to Tennessee on August 3, 2024, signed with the Vols on December 3, 2025, and enrolled in January. He participated in spring practice as a five-star prospect from Grimsley High School in Greensboro, North Carolina. Brandon chose Tennessee over Alabama, LSU and North Carolina State.
George MacIntyre’s status at quarterback remained a topic of discussion in the spring. During March practices, Heupel spoke about the process of selecting a starter for the 2026 season in a candid, open manner. “It is open,” Heupel said. “We had that conversation with all of them as we started the winter when they all arrived here. Had that conversation again as we were wrapping up our winter before we got into spring ball. We’ve had a couple of those battles, you guys know that we always communicate with those guys openly, transparently. We communicate with those guys together.” He emphasized that no starter would be named during spring ball and noted the importance of the entire quarterback room continuing to compete and learn throughout the spring and into fall practices.