The Tennessee Volunteers are currently in the midst of starting quarterback competition between redshirt freshman George MacIntyre and true freshman Faizon Brandon, a former five-star recruit.<\/p>\n
The Tennessee Vols have a \u201csecret weapon\u201d that\u2019s helping take the quarterback room on Rocky Top to another level.<\/p>\n
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Ahead of the 2025 season, Vols head coach Josh Heupel hired <\/a>former NFL quarterback Landry Jones<\/a> as an offensive analyst.<\/p>\n Jones, a fourth-round selection by the Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> in the 2013 NFL Draft, played under Heupel at Oklahoma from 2008 to 2012 (Heupel was the Sooners\u2019 quarterbacks coach\/offensive coordinator during that time).<\/p>\n Landry Jones is an \u201cimportant piece\u201d in the Vols\u2019 starting quarterback competition<\/p>\n Jones, who was in the roofing business<\/a> before joining Tennessee\u2019s staff, made a big impact on Joey Aguilar last year as the quarterback quickly adjusted to the Vols\u2019 offense after arriving in Knoxville as a transfer addition just a few months before the start of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The former Oklahoma quarterback is having a similar impact on Tennessee\u2019s starting quarterback battle between true freshman Faizon Brandon and redshirt freshman George MacIntyre.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t forget Landry Jones is on this staff at Tennessee as an analyst,\u201d said VolQuest\u2019s Brent Hubbs Friday on 104.5 The Zone\u2019s Ramon and Will<\/a>. \u201cAnd Landry Jones is a guy who played in this system very early in his career, and was successful in doing so. <\/p>\n \u201cJoey Aguilar, on multiple occasions, publicly in the media and privately to me, has praised Landry Jones\u2019 ability to help him grasp and understand the offense in a short window of time. I think Landry Jones is a pretty important piece to this thing for Tennessee to get a quarterback ready.\u201d<\/p>\n Ramon and Will<\/a> co-host Ramon Foster<\/a>, who was teammates with Jones for five seasons in Pittsburgh, added that Jones is a \u201csmart dude.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Having Jones on staff is certainly a huge asset for Heupel and the Vols.<\/p>\n Heupel and offensive coordinator Joey Halzle have been in lock-step with each other for nearly two decades \u2014 there\u2019s a lot of continuity there. But there are only so many hours in a day. Coaches can\u2019t stretch themselves too thin or they won\u2019t be nearly as effective. Heupel is a quarterback guru, but he\u2019s obviously responsible for the whole team. The same goes for Halzle and the offense.<\/p>\n Jones is well-versed in Heupel\u2019s system (even though it\u2019s ever-changing, Jones knows how Heupel operates). And he\u2019s clearly good at his job based on Aguilar\u2019s comments. Having him on staff is helping Tennessee\u2019s young quarterbacks be even more ready for the 2026 college football season \u2014 and it\u2019s freeing up Heupel and Halzle to focus some attention other areas.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n