Why Josh Heupel was careful in Faizon Brandon praise amid Tennessee QB battle

Coach Josh Heupel knows every word he says about Tennessee's quarterback competition will be overanalyzed.

Perhaps that’s why he says so little, at least in terms of ranking one player over the others.

After UT’s second scrimmage of spring practice on April 2, Heupel poked fun at that underlying reality.

A reporter asked Heupel if he thought five-star freshman Faizon Brandon was progressing faster than he expected, along with a caveat that the question wasn’t about whether Brandon was better than the other quarterbacks.

Heupel cracked a smile and replied sarcastically:

“Yeah, nobody will read anything into it,” he said.

In truth, Brandon is making a case for the starting job. Heupel’s careful comments and rumblings around the program indicate that.

But no quarterback has been overly impressive. It’s also very early in the competition and the juiciest parts of practice are closed to media. However, it's evident that the competition is wide open as spring practice winds down.

Scrimmage takeaways for Faizon Brandon, George MacIntyre

In the scrimmage, Brandon tossed a touchdown pass to tight end DaSaahn Brame and an interception returned for a TD by safety Edrees Farooq. Brandon has been impressive physically in flashes, but he’s also had predictable growing pains in operating the offense.

Redshirt freshman George MacIntyre has had plenty of good and bad, as well. He’s sometimes been indecisive against a heavy pass rush, led by Penn State transfer Xavier Gilliam. Both quarterbacks have struggled at times against coordinator Jim Knowles' newly-installed defense, which appears ahead of schedule.

“In general, I’ve been pleased with their decision making (and) taking care of the football (by all quarterbacks),” Heupel said. “But there have been a couple of things where they’ve maybe not seen it right or as the play has broken down had to move their body in an awkward position. They haven’t been as accurate or as sound in the decision making (in those instances).”

Neither MacIntyre nor Brandon has been consistent in the intricate details of the position yet, but that’s understandable considering their inexperience. MacIntyre attempted only nine passes in 2025, and Brandon enrolled at UT in January.

Colorado transfer Ryan Staub is learning the offense, but he appears to be a better fit as a backup behind at least one of the former blue-chip prospects.

Faizon Brandon has impressed ‘for a true freshman’

Brandon is regarded as the most talented quarterback, albeit by a small margin. The five-star recruit was rated the No. 3 quarterback and No. 10 player overall in the 2026 class by 247Sports Composite.

MacIntyre, a four-star prospect, was the No. 13 quarterback and No. 151 player overall in the 2025 class. But he got a one-year head-start in UT’s offense during his redshirt year.

Heupel said Brandon is ahead of schedule “for a true freshman” in learning the offense, but he still has a way to go.

“(There are demands) in the passing game certainly – there’s a lot on our quarterbacks in the run game, too – and that’s an area that at times can be the hardest part for our quarterbacks,” Heupel said. “But (Brandon) has continued to progress in that. There’s still a lot left for him and for everybody in that room for us to do what we need to.

“But as a true freshman, (I am) certainly pleased with what he’s done to this point.”

Why Josh Heupel is taking his time to pick quarterback

Heupel said he won’t name a starting quarterback in spring practice. And don’t be surprised if the competition extends into the season, especially if no quarterback runs away with the job.

So far, it’s too close to pick a frontrunner. Perhaps the extra time benefits MacIntyre because he can widen his head-start in the playbook, or maybe the longer it goes the better chance that Brandon has of jumping ahead.

For now, Heupel is using a lot of conditional language in complimenting his young quarterbacks. He said Brandon is progressing well “for a true freshman.” And he said all three quarterbacks “operationally did a lot better job from day one until today,” but he didn’t say they necessarily played well.

Heupel is usually tight-lipped during a quarterback competition. He doesn’t want to tip his hand or send the wrong message while the outcome is still uncertain.

But the few words that he’s said during spring practice suggest that he’s not completely sold on any quarterback as his surefire starter yet.

“Collectively as a group, they’ve been pretty good,” Heupel said. “There are a couple of things that each of them needs to grow in – that’s in spring ball, through the course of summer and training camp too.”

The quarterback competition will briefly go public at the Orange and White spring game on April 11 (2 p.m. ET) at Neyland Stadium. But that scrimmage will be closer to the start of the battle than the finish.

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: What Josh Heupel said about Tennessee QB Faizon Brandon after scrimmage