A deeper look at a future passer.
Josh Heupel has Tennessee rolling in the quarterback department for years to come. Five-star, former No. 1 overall player Nico Iamaleava will get his turn coming up this fall. Four-star passer Jake Merklinger is behind him, then attention turns to five-star 2025 commit George MacIntyre.
The mid-state product committed to Tennessee back in the spring, choosing the Volunteers over the likes of Alabama, LSU, Clemson and several others. Per On3, MacIntyre ranks 17th overall in the class — the fourth ranked quarterback in the country and the top overall player in the state of Tennessee.
ESPN took a deep dive into the 2025 quarterback class this week. Tom Luginbill offered his thoughts on MacIntyre, who he believes is still very much in the developmental phase.
Strengths: At 6-6, MacIntyre has rare height and is a pure pocket player with good feet and sneaky pocket quickness. He’s a late bloomer physically, and that’s a good thing. He handles the ball well and is fundamentally sound and consistent. MacIntyre possesses a strong, but not elite arm. With time in the weight room and physical development, his arm will get stronger. He sees the field well and consistently makes good decisions on time.
Areas of improvement: Growth and physical strength. He’s underdeveloped, super tall and rail thin. The fact that he’s not going to have to play right away at Tennessee is going to aid his development and maturity.
How he fits at Tennessee: Josh Heupel employs today’s best plug-and-play quarterback scheme in college football. MacIntyre remind us a little bit of what Drew Lock looked like in this offense when Heupel had him at Missouri. This is a nice in-state pick up for the Vols.
ESPN, which is notoriously different from the rest of the recruiting industry, has MacIntyre ranked as the 56th overall player in the class.
MacIntyre does have plenty of room to fill out, which he most certainly will early on in Knoxville. He’ll have plenty of time to develop too, with Tennessee set up with Nico Iamaleava at least through the 2025 season. The Drew Lock comparison seems spot on from Luginbill. Those Heupel offenses at Missouri were a lot of fun back in 2016/17 with Lock pulling the strings.
MacIntyre, the grandson of George who was the head coach at Vanderbilt and the nephew of current FIU and former Colorado head coach Mike, obviously has football in his blood. He’s also an accomplished basketball player, earning offers on the hardwood from FIU and Arizona State.
As a junior, MacIntyre completed 67 percent of his passes, throwing for 3,229 yards. He tossed 25 touchdowns, but also threw 12 interceptions. You’d obviously like to see that turnover number come down in his senior season this fall.
MacIntyre is coming off of another visit to Knoxville this weekend where he helped host several elite targets. He’s essentially become Tennessee’s lead recruiter for the time being as he tries to surround himself with as much talent as possible.
He was set to participate in the Elite 11 finals this summer, but was forced to withdraw his name due to injury.