'I was close to playing for Coach Heupel' – Former Vols QB Jarrett Guarantano reveals he nearly played for Josh Heupel at another school
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Former Tennessee Vols quarterback Jarrett Guarantano never played for Josh Heupel on Rocky Top.
Guarantano, who played at Tennessee from 2016 to 2020 before finishing his career at Washington State, entered the transfer portal shortly after the Vols’ final game of the 2020 season. He transferred to Washington State on January 8, 2021 — a little over two weeks before Tennessee hired Heupel to replace Jeremy Pruitt as the program’s head coach.
While Guarantano never played for Heupel at Tennessee, he nearly played under Heupel at Oklahoma.
Jarrett Guarantano says he was “super close” with Josh Heupel as a recruit
Guarantano joined The Mike Keith Show this week and he discussed his football journey — from playing in high school in New Jersey to making it to the NFL.
The former Tennessee quarterback revealed that he was very interested in Oklahoma as a recruit due to his relationship with Heupel.
“My journey was such a weird and different journey,” said Guarantano. “So even before all of that (transferring to Washington State), I was deciding what college I wanted to go to. It was Ohio State, it was Oklahoma, it was here (Tennessee). I loved Alabama at the time, too. I loved the thought of it because they were winning.
“Oklahoma, I was super close with Coach Heupel at that time. He was the offensive coordinator and we had a great relationship. Unfortunately, at that time, it was the end of the Bob Stoops era, so we didn’t really know what was going to go on there. I was that close from playing for Coach Heupel because that was really the main edge that they had on a lot of people. So I wound up just kind of disengaging [with Oklahoma] because Coach Stoops didn’t know his next step.”
Oddly enough, Guarantano visited Oklahoma in 2014 for the Sooners’ game against Tennessee (which Oklahoma won 34-10).
“Coach Heupel and I have developed a great relationship,” said Guarantano to 247Sports in 2014. “We have been talking since February, and every week since February we have been getting to know each other more and more. I really feel real comfortable with the coaches and the type of person that he is.”
Heupel was fired by Stoops following the 2014 season. Guarantano ended up committing to Tennessee on April 15, 2015.
College football is a small world. It’s wild to think that if Stoops hadn’t fired Heupel after the 2014 season, Guarantano might have played college football in Norman instead of Knoxville.
This article was originally published on A to Z Sports Tennessee Vols as ‘I was close to playing for Coach Heupel’ – Former Vols QB Jarrett Guarantano reveals he nearly played for Josh Heupel at another school.
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This story was originally reported by A to Z Sports on Nov 7, 2025, where it first appeared in the Nashville section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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