Tennessee Football is starting game week against Syracuse without a backup quarterback and without a depth chart — at least officially. The Vols opted not to issue a depth chart on Monday, as they have done in past seasons.

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel also declined to name a backup quarterback when asked during his weekly press conference on Monday.

“You guys will find out on Saturday, I guess,” Heupel said, “when the depth chart comes out.”

Season Opener: Tennessee vs. Syracuse, Saturday, Noon ET, ABC

Tennessee opens the new season against Syracuse on Saturday (Noon Eastern Time, ABC) in the Aflac Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The Orange are also not expected to release a depth chart until game day.

The Vols last season issued a depth chart the first Monday of the regular season with “-or-” listed 35 times, bracketing multiple possible starters on offense, defense and special teams.

All Heupel has said about his quarterbacks so far is that UCLA and Appalachian State transfer Joey Aguilar will be the starter after beating out redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and freshman George MacIntyre during fall camp.

The Vols officially named Aguilar the starter last Sunday. Heupel on Monday said he had confidence in his quarterback room.

“I really like all those guys,” Heupel said. “In the quarterback room, you’ve heard me talk about three guys that competed during the course of training camp.”

Aguilar threw for 6,760 yards, 56 touchdowns and 24 interceptions over 25 games the last two seasons at Appalachian State. He transferred the UCLA in December, but was back in the NCAA Transfer Portal after former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava transferred to UCLA.

Merklinger appeared in two games last season, completing 6 of 9 passes for 48 yards and running seven times for 22 yards. He was a four-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, ranked as the No. 12 quarterback nationally and the No. 23 overall prospect in the state of Georgia, out of Calvary Day School in Savannah. 

MacIntyre was a four-star prospect who was a headliner in Tennessee’s 2025 class, ranked as the No. 15 quarterback in the class and the No. 3 in-state prospect, out of Brentwood Academy.

“You name a starter,” Heupel said last week, “but you never know when your opportunity is coming. This message was given to those guys as we sat in the room together, it was given to the entire team, too. You got to prepare yourself for when your opportunity is going to come to take advantage of that. 

“Merk has been great in the building, energy, focus. George has been the same way. Just want those guys to continue to grow.”

Notre Dame transfer QB Steve Angeli named starter for Syracuse

Syracuse named Notre Dame transfer Steve Angeli as its starting quarterback last Monday, after second-year head coach Fran Brown had named LSU transfer Rickie Collins the starter coming out of spring practice.

Heupel on Monday described the Syracuse offense having “a lot of different personnel” and relying on “shift trade motions.”

“The communication (on defense) is going to be important,” Heupel said. “I said it earlier, but tying all three levels of your defense together is going to be important in this. You got to be able to win one-on-one matchups with the way that they spread the field, too. That’s in your secondary, but that’s also winning one on one matchups up front.”

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