'It wouldn't be a good look' - Vols QB commit Faizon Brandon admits he almost made decision that would've changed Tennessee's season

The Tennessee Vols -- because of Nico Iamaleava's decision to transfer in April -- will feature a quarterback competition this summer between UCLA transfer Joey Aguilar, redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger, and true freshman George MacIntyre

If Iamaleava had decided to transfer in December, immediately after the Vols' season ended with a loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff, a different name might have entered the quarterback battle.

2026 Vols five-star quarterback commit Faizon Brandon admitted this week during an interview with 247Sports that he considered reclassifying to the 2025 recruiting class after news broke of Iamaleava's departure from Tennessee. 

Brandon, who has been committed to Tennessee since last August, is rated by 247Sports as the No. 1 overall player in the 2026 recruiting class. 

"It has," said Brandon when asked if it crossed his mind to come to Tennessee a year early. "But I would say just how late it was [when it] happened. I had already been working out with my (high school) team and stuff. And I would say just leaving them like that would be kind of -- I would say it wouldn't be a good look, I don't think. But I was definitely thinking about it. Maybe, if it had happened right after the state championship (in December) or something, it probably could have happened. I would say [with] how late it happened, I don't think I would do it."