Fall camp was supposed to be a wide open quarterback race for Tennessee football with Nico Iamaleava gone. Joey Aguilar is the experienced graduate transfer veteran, Jake Merklinger is the one returning scholarship signal-caller from last year’s team, and George MacIntyre is the true freshman phenom.

However, a recent report by Pete Nakos of ON3 suggests the race is not as open as we though. Nakos reported sources telling him that MacIntyre has been working with the third team ever since the preseason began a week ago, making it pretty clear the race comes down to Aguilar and Merklinger.

There may not be any race at all, though.

Look, it’s understandable for MacIntyre to be the furthest behind in the group. Beyond being the youngest, he also is a bit too thin right now at 6’6″ 195 pounds. Still, why wouldn’t he even get a look within the first week with the first team if this is supposed to be an open competition? Could it be because Heupel already has his guy?

At the start of fall camp for Tennessee football, Heupel said they wanted to figure out their starter early. Joey Halzle said the season wouldn’t start without a starting quarterback. All the comments suggested that they both knew who they at least wanted to win the job before fall camp opened.

Heupel’s not beyond such nefarious motives. In 2021, his first year, there, he cleared the field for Joe Milton III to start the season. Milton, like Aguilar, wasn’t even there in the spring, but Heupel had him standing on the sideline during the Orange and White game after he transferred to UT from the Michigan Wolverines.

That summer, he dismissed Kaidon Salter for two marijuana charges, which didn’t seem to serious, and then Brian Maurer hit the transfer portal. Milton beat out Hendon Hooker for the starting job in what was clearly a mistake. Sure, some players, like Ollie Lane, say Milton outperformed Hooker in practice, but the body of evidence favored Hooker.

We had reports at Off the Hook Sports that Hooker had won over most of the team with his play and attitude. He also had a more proven track record of success with the Virginia Tech Hokies than Milton had with Michigan. Why, then, did Heupel name Milton? Well, it was arrogance. Milton was the one guy on that roster he signed.

To Heupel’s credit, he made the switch to Hooker right after Milton got hurt against the Pittsburgh Panthers, but there was still some politicking going on. What could be the politicking this time if he signed all three quarterbacks who supposedly entered fall camp with the chance to start?

It’s about next year’s quarterback race.

Had Iamaleava stayed with Tennessee football, Heupel’s plan was to open up the competition next year after Iamaleava presumably left for the pros. He would still have Merklinger, MacIntyre would be more ready, and Faizon Brandon, who is already college-ready given his body, would be on the roster in the spring.

There would be a true, wide-open competition for the quarterback of the future.

Losing Iamaleava messed that all up, though. Heupel knew that Merklinger would be better than MacIntyre this year. The problem with that, though, is if you give Merklinger the job, you can’t go to MacIntyre next year, and Merklinger is only one year ahead of him. It’s likely Heupel more believes in MacIntyre long-term.

At the same time, Heupel can’t go with MacIntyre right off the bat, as he’s only one year ahead of Brandon, who could be better than him. See the problem? If you pick either of those quarterbacks now, you won’t have the wide-open, fair competition he wants next year.

This is all why he went after Aguilar and got him to transfer from the UCLA Bruins in the first place in an effective trade with Iamaleava. As a result, all signs point to Heupel making Aguilar, who started the last two years for the Appalachian State Mountaineers, be the best quarterback for Tennessee football. There may not be any real competition.