Vols insider delivers hard truth on Tennessee QB George MacIntyre starting over Faizon Brandon originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Tennessee Volunteers football team is coming off an okay season. This is likely the most crucial season of the Josh Heupel era, which is why he made significant changes to his coaching staff.
The quarterback battle has been the main topic of discussion throughout the spring. The QB room consists of Faizon Brandon, George MacIntyre, and Ryan Staub. For Tennessee, the goal was to create real competition in the room.
“But you know, Bob, they needed more than anything, they needed to bring somebody else in that room where they could continue to create competition,” On3’s Chris Low said.
However, Tennessee’s quarterback battle has been anything but competitive, as it appears Brandon has outperformed the others thus far. MacIntyre did not perform well during the spring at all.
“What’s Tennessee doing with their quarterback position?” said CFB insider Trey Wallace. “Is this going to be the Faizon thing or is this going to be the MacIntyre thing? From what I keep hearing, it’s probably going to be the Faizon thing. The term ‘Hail Mary’ was thrown out to me the other day in regards to MacIntyre getting the job. He had a year and a half head start on the freshman to get in and win over the locker room, and learn the playbook.”
While that is a negative report on MacIntyre, Vols insider Tony Basilio went as far as saying he was “unplayable” during the spring.
“I’m going to tell you right now: Faizon Brandon was much more playable in the spring than George MacIntyre was. I’m just going to put it in plain English. We’ve kind of hinted around at it here, but the reason you’re getting that talk from people, and that chatter and those predictions from people, is [because] George MacIntyre looked like an unplayable player in the spring,” Basilio said.
There is still plenty of time for MacIntyre to develop, but if there isn’t a turnaround soon, things could get ugly quickly. Brandon is more than capable of holding the job, but MacIntyre’s struggles have raised concerns.
Staub has shown he can perform, including during his time at Colorado, but Tennessee’s system is complex and will take time to learn. As it stands, it appears to be Brandon’s job to lose, and the key moving forward will be continued development and staying healthy.