The Tennessee Volunteers dove into the college football transfer portal last year after Nico Iamaleava transferred to UCLA, with head coach Josh Heupel bringing in Joey Aguilar. With Aguilar unlikely to return for the 2026 season, the transfer portal could bring another unheralded starting quarterback to Tennessee.
Pete Nakos of On3.com reported on Saturday that while the Florida State Seminoles have surfaced as a potential destination for quarterback Anthony Colandrea, Tennessee is a program to “keep an eye on” during the process in January.
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- Anthony Colandrea stats (2025): 3,459 passing yards, 23-9 TD-INT< 69.8 ESPN QBR, 8.3 yards per attempt, 65.9% completion rate, 649 rushing yards, 10 rushing touchdowns
Colandrea earned Mountain West Conference Player of the Year honors this past season with the UNLV Rebels. Before entering the college football transfer portal, the junior signal-caller put up 3,459 passing yards with a 23-9 TD-INT ratio, and he finished second on the team in both rushing yards (649) and rushing touchdowns.
The 6-foot quarterback even outperformed Nico Iamaleava head-to-head, totaling 262 total yards (203 passing and 59 rushing) with three touchdowns in a 30-23 victory over UCLA in September. However, he struggled in the Frisco Bowl against Ohio, finishing with one interception, two sacks taken, and just 184 passing yards on 30 attempts.
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While there are higher-rated quarterbacks available in the portal, cost could be a factor for Tennessee. The presence of programs like LSU, Florida, Miami, Texas Tech and Oregon likely means a far heftier price tag for one of the top signal-callers. Instead, the Volunteers could spend less money on a quarterback so there’s more to go around toward improving the defense for next season.
Tennessee might also not be seeking a passer who needs to be the guaranteed starter. George MacIntyre, a 247Sports four-star recruit in the 2025 class, is presumably the favorite to take over as the Volunteers’ quarterback in 2026 after developing behind the scenes as a freshman.
Beyond MacIntyre, five-star quarterback prospect Faizon Brandon is widely viewed as the future face of the program. While Brandon is a cornerstone of the 2026 recruiting class, whichever quarterback is brought in this offseason will likely have to beat out MacIntyre for the starting job this summer.
