Does this mean Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel is tipping his hand on who the leader is to win the starting quarterback job? Absolutely not. Is it still something that has Vols fans out there talking? Of course it does.
The Vols took the field for the first day of camp on Wednesday and plenty of eyes were on the new faces on the roster. The list of course included veteran quarterback Joey Aguilar, who a lot of people expect to win the quarterback battle.
To kick things off, however, the QBs got their day started with passing drills and it was Jake Merklinger who was up first to throw the ball around according to beat reporter Adam Sparks. Aguilar was second, while George MacIntyre followed suit. Interesting, right?
Boo Carter was set apart from team during first Tennessee practice.
— Adam Sparks (@AdamSparks) July 30, 2025
Also ... David Sanders starting, Joey Aguilar is QB2(?), injury report and other observations.https://t.co/sSzWJ3fzCc
Jake Merklinger was up first for Tennessee QBs during passing drills on Day 1
"It’s probably foolish to read too much into the order of the quarterbacks during a drill. Merklinger has gone through these drills for more than a year, so he has familiarity with the routine," Sparks wrote. "This was Aguilar’s first practice, and MacIntyre debuted in spring practice. But the order of drills will be something to watch throughout preseason practice as UT tries to identify its starter."
We fully agree with Sparks - it's far too early to read into this. However, call us a bit off the wall, but this further proves that Heupel is going to have an open competition and nothing is going to be handed or given to Aguilar, Merklinger or MacIntyre.
This job is fully up for grabs and someone is going to need to take full advantage of the practice sessions to prove to Heupel that they should be the starter Week 1 against Syracuse. For now, it's fully unknown who will be leading the offense out onto the field.
There will be big shoes to fill with Nico Iamaleava leaving for UCLA, but Heupel and his staff are confident in the signal-callers that are still on campus. Again, Aguilar is considered the favorite to come out on top, but he's going to have to earn the starting role the hard way. Good, it's exactly how Heupel wants things.