Soon enough, the tough decision is going to have to come in from Josh Heupel. Over at fall camp, there's a three-way battle for the starting Tennessee football quarterback job, with Joey Aguilar, Jake Merklinger and George MacIntyre all pushing for the role.
On Saturday, the Vols were in action for the first scrimmage of camp and all eyes were of course on the signal-callers. Leading up to the day's session Pete Nakos reported that Aguilar had a bit of an edge in the race to start Week 1. However, Heupel made it clear that he's still scouting each guy and no decision has been made. Will it come next week?
Josh Heupel on the quarterback battle: “I’m not naming a starter today.”
— John Sartori (@JohnSartoriTV) August 9, 2025
Adds he “really likes” what Joey Aguilar has done so far.
Josh Heupel isn't ready to announce who Tennessee's starting QB will be
For a little while, plenty of us have assumed that Aguilar is going to lead the offense out onto the field for the Week 1 matchup against Syracuse. However, nothing is set in stone there. Clearly, Merklinger is giving the Tennessee HC something to think about.
In the coming weeks, we'll find out who Heupel decides to rock with, but our gut feeling continues to tell us that Aguilar will be the one to take over for Nico Iamaleava, who is now suiting up for UCLA closer to home for him.
Aguilar has back-to-back 3,000-yard seasons to his name, doing so while he was the starter over at App State. Both Merklinger and MacIntyre are former 4-star signees, though, and there's no question that they both have bright futures.
Still, only one person can be the starter and a tough decision indeed needs to come in for Heupel shortly. Regardless of who is QB1, there are plenty of weapons in place both for the ground game and at receiver to help out whoever is behind center.
Heupel added on Saturday that he's been happy with the progress that Aguilar has made in learning the system. Plenty of Tennessee supporters are all-in on Aguilar being the go-to guy for this team, but we're going to have to wait a little longer for that to become official. There's still some time for Heupel to lock things down there.