Faizon Brandon has been given the keys to rev up the 130th University of Tennessee football team.
The five-star freshman from Greensboro, North Carolina, was announced Monday morning by sixth-year Volunteers coach Josh Heupel as the starting quarterback for the Sept. 5 season opener against Furman inside Neyland Stadium. Brandon enrolled in January and competed in the spring with sophomore George MacIntyre and senior and Colorado transfer Ryan Staub, with the focus shifting in preseason camp to Brandon and MacIntyre.
“I had the quarterbacks in this morning and told the team this morning that Faizon had earned the right to be the starter week one,” Heupel said in a news conference following Monday’s practice. “I love what the group has done and how they’ve competed and grown. I love how they’ve supported each other throughout the course of training camp.
“Faizon gets the nod week one, and the expectation at the quarterback position just like at every other position is that guys will continue to grow and compete every day. The strength of one position group can never be one guy, and that’s true at quarterback, even though everybody focuses on the starter.”
When pressed about only naming Brandon as the week one starter, Heupel replied, “Every position is week to week. We named him the starter because of the work that he has put in and how he’s continued to grow and play throughout training camp and through this second scrimmage. He’s earned that right, but like every position, you’re constantly evaluated.”