Joey Halzle explains what he and the coaching staff will be looking for in Tennessee Vols' quarterback battle during fall camp

For the first time in quite a while, the Tennessee Vols will have a true quarterback competition for the starting job. And it's one where there isn't a clear leader among a trio of talented throwers in Joey Aguilar, Jake Merklinger, and George MacIntyre.

How that competition shakes out will be one of the most influential factors in how the 2025 season goes for the Vols, so all eyes will be on that battle as fall camp gets underway on Wednesday.

What will those eyes be looking at during the competition? Offensive coordinator Joey Halzle was asked just that on Tuesday during his media availability session, and he explained they're looking for someone who's not going to shy away from the challenge.

"First and foremost, you've got to play this game, in this offense, with an aggressive nature," Halzle said. "I think a lot of times mistakes that quarterbacks make in a competition, they try to not lose it. They try just to not make a mistake. We want our guy to walk the line between being extremely aggressive, but not reckless at all. Reckless is just throwing the ball up for grabs. Aggressive is driving a ball into a tight window. So, we want our guy to be aggressive. We want him to be smart, and we want him to operate this offense. It's not just about who throws the football the furthest or the hardest. It's about who can operate this offense that when we take the field, gives us the chance to win - whether that's them carrying the football, them getting to their checkdowns, them making big plays down the field. However it presents to that individual skillset, it's them doing that at an extremely high level to where we say, 'that's the guy that gives us the best chance to be up plus one at the end of a ballgame.'"

It's a sensible take on the competition, as one of the complaints about last year's passing game was a hesitation at times by Nico Iamaleava to let it fly to a seemingly open receiver. Having a gun-shy quarterback will do your offense little good in the sense of creating chunk plays, something Tennessee needs to get back to after a two-year dip in that category.

But, with so many new faces and unknown commodities through the roster, this season is particularly one where the offense can't gift short fields to opposing teams, so aggression has to be tempered by balancing the risk vs. taking what's there, as Halzle alluded to. And, of course, making that call in a split second before getting hammered by a 275-pound defensive lineman.

We'll find out soon enough who can walk that line the best and earn the opportunity to take the field with the first team when the Vols take on Syracuse in Atlanta on August 30.