How Tennessee players talk about George MacIntyre as unofficial starting quarterback

Tennessee football players are talking about George MacIntyre as if he's the established starting quarterback even if coach Josh Heupel hasn’t taken that step publicly.

“Obviously, (MacIntyre) took the role over, and he’s been playing his butt off,” wide receiver Braylon Staley said on Nov. 2. “He’s grown a lot. He’s taken control of the offense now, being the leader that he’s supposed to be.”

Those are encouraging words about MacIntyre, a sophomore with only three career starts. They only raise eyebrows when contrasted with Heupel, who has declined to publicly name his starting quarterback for the past five weeks.

“We’ll finish the week here at practice and get to game day,” Heupel said when asked about choosing his starting quarterback when No. 16 Tennessee (6-2, 3-2 SEC) plays No. 7 Kentucky (7-1, 5-1) at Neyland Stadium on Nov. 7 (6:15 p.m. ET, ESPN).

That’s been the norm ever since MacIntyre, a former Brentwood Academy standout, replaced five-star freshman Faizon Brandon midway through a 24-14 win over Auburn on Oct. 3. Brandon was ineffective in that game but also struggling with a right shoulder injury.

Brandon is no longer on the SEC injury report, but MacIntyre appears to remain the starter. Players are certainly referencing him in that role.

“In the first couple of games that (MacIntyre) played, he was just getting his feet set,” left guard Nic Moore said. “But now I think he’s been really confident in what he’s doing. He’s really being talking with confidence in the huddle, and he’s flourished into a good quarterback.”

The Vols are 3-1 since MacIntyre replaced Brandon, and they're still in the College Football Playoff hunt with four games remaining in the regular season. MacIntyre has completed 67% of his passes for 728 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. But he had three TD passes negated by penalties in a 27-24 loss at South Carolina on Oct. 24.

Tennessee players prioritizing time with George MacIntyre

Tennessee is coming off a one-week break when the team refocused for the stretch run of the regular season. Staley said wide receivers increased their film study and personal time with MacIntyre as he's taken over the QB1 job.

“(We are) hanging out with each other, going out to eat and stuff like that and then coming back and watching film. That’s what we do a lot,” Staley said. “With a couple of the receivers, we always go in there (to the film room) and watch some (film) with George to see what we can pick out from the defense.”

Notably, Staley gave a similar description of his personal time with Brandon during the preseason, when the freshman was leading MacIntyre for the starting job. He didn’t say that his Brandon time had decreased, but he acknowledged that MacIntyre time has been a priority lately for UT’s offensive skill players.

George MacIntyre learns to command huddle with each start

MacIntyre, by all accounts, is finding his voice as the starting quarterback. It’s been evident in how he runs the huddle, which UT has increasingly utilized as it’s gone away from an up-tempo, no-huddle attack.

“George is being loud and telling us what to do,” Staley said. “It’s real good to be in a huddle and hear a quarterback talk like that. He’s gotten his confidence back now, and he needs to keep it up.”

Compared to Brandon, MacIntyre was a veteran. But he played only 18 snaps as a freshman in 2025, so it’s understandable that he’d take big steps with each game as a starter.

MacIntyre helped UT pull out the Auburn game after replacing Brandon. He had an up-and-down performance in 24-17 win over Arkansas in his first start. He played well in a 26-10 win over No. 9 Alabama. And he showed promise but also committed costly mistakes in the loss to South Carolina.

Teammates say MacIntyre has managed that rollercoaster ride and learned through those experiences.

“It’s nice to see because he’s somebody I came in with in the same (2025) class,” said Moore, a former Jefferson County standout. “Just to see him have his opportunity and capitalize on it and be confident enough to control the whole offense and know what everybody is doing is nice to see.”

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: How Tennessee players talk about George MacIntyre as unofficial starting quarterback