Tennessee football adds Colorado QB Ryan Staub from transfer portal
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Colorado quarterback Ryan Staub has committed to Tennessee football out of the transfer portal, joining George MacIntyre and Faizon Brandon.
Staub is a 6-foot-1, 200-pounder from Stevenson Ranch, California. He played 12 games with two starts over three seasons at Colorado, including a redshirt year. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Staub was a backup for the Buffaloes who earned most of his playing time as a redshirt sophomore in 2025. He completed 30 of 55 passes for 427 yards, three TDs and four interceptions. He also rushed for one TD.
Tennessee must replace Joey Aguilar, who led the SEC with 3,565 passing yards, the third most in a single season in UT history. The former Appalachian State standout exceeded expectations in his lone season with the Vols, and coaches hope their next starting quarterback can do the same.
Aguilar is trying to get an NCAA waiver that would grant him an additional season of eligibility. He has no eligibility remaining, but he is trying to gain an additional year as a plaintiff on Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia’s federal lawsuit against the NCAA that challenges eligibility rules involving former junior college players. According to court documents, a hearing on the motion for a preliminary injunction has been set for Feb. 10 in Nashville.
Ryan Staub joins George MacIntyre, Faizon Brandon
UT’s other two quarterbacks are talented but inexperienced.
MacIntyre, a 6-6, 195-pounder, is a former four-star recruit who will be a redshirt freshman in 2026. He completed 7 of 9 passes for 69 yards in two games in 2025. He played 18 snaps total against ETSU and New Mexico State.
MacIntyre, a former Brentwood Academy standout, signed with UT in the 2025 class. He chose the Vols over Alabama after receiving scholarship offers from more than half the SEC, as well as Michigan, Clemson, Florida State and others.
Brandon, a 6-4, 206-pounder, is a five-star signee who will enroll at UT in January. He was ranked the No. 3 quarterback in the 2026 class by 247Sports Composite.
Brandon missed much of his senior season due to a thumb injury. But he returned in time to lead his Grimsley High team to a second straight North Carolina state title.
What Josh Heupel said about adding a third quarterback
This gives Tennessee three quarterbacks for its projected 2026 roster. In December, before the transfer portal opened, coach Josh Heupel acknowledged that UT had to add a third quarterback, regardless of their role.
“There’s been years where we’ve had that happen, where you’ve had to play a third (quarterback). So you don’t want to do that, but it’s happened before,” Heupel said on Dec. 18.
UT initially tried to land a top-tier starter when it hosted Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt, the No. 1 rated player in the portal. But LSU and Lane Kiffin got Leavitt instead.
Then UT hosted Missouri quarterback Beau Pribula, a mid-tier starter. But he instead signed with Virginia.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing atknoxnews.com/subscribe.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Ryan Staub: Tennessee football adds Colorado QB from transfer portal
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