Tennessee Volunteers tight end Miles Kitselman believes in something very strongly: competition. He hammered that point home clearly this week during the SEC Media Days, particularly as it relates to who will be throwing him the ball this season.
Kitselman sat down with the 3HL show this week, and he had some direct words about players who want to be with a program and who want to compete with their teammates, particularly in the wake of Nico Iamaleava’s sudden departure back in April.
“Man, when that whole deal went down, we all just came together,” Kitselman said of the Iamaleava transfer. “I’m not just saying that to say that, but it was just like, hey, man, really no one is bigger than the Power T, and this was all we got, this was all we need. You’re strong, I’m strong, let’s go do it. We’re going to go out and get somebody that’s going to want to be here, and we did do that. Joey’s done a great job inside of that quarterback room. Jake and George, they all compete.
I’ve been telling people all day, that’s what sports is about. Let’s go compete, let’s have some competition inside these rooms. When you’ve got a named guy, a named starter, it’s like, he’s going to start no matter what. You’ve got some pretty good backups, but those backups start going, ‘nah, I’m not going to put in that extra work, I’m alright, no matter how good I play, I’m not going to get on the field.’ You’ve got three legit dudes for us right now that can go start on Saturdays. So, that’s extra film work, that’s extra rehab, that’s extra time out on the field doing walk throughs making sure we’ve got the offense down. And when you see those guys putting in full effort, full throttle, how could I sit here as a player and not want to go full throttle with them?
And so, man, this entire team has just bought in, and we have so much leadership on this team and accountability, and I’m just excited to go out and display it on Saturdays.”
Kitselman’s words make a lot of sense. Having no true established guy and the resulting opportunity is going to get guys to buy in more and fight hard to try to seize that chance. And the battle between Joey Aguilar, Jake Merklinger, and George MacIntyre should be a good competition with no obvious leader and all three having a viable shot at winning the job.
With Faizon Brandon coming to town after this season, the fight for the job will start all over again next offseason for who will lead the offense for the 2026 season. But again, battles are a good thing, which Tennessee fans hope prompt success on the field for the Big Orange in 2025.