Tennessee five-star QB commit George MacIntyre talks offers around commitment

George MacIntyre knew he wanted to land at Tennessee.

A native of The Volunteer State, staying close to home and playing for his dream school made perfect sense. But that didn’t stop programs from making a last-ditch effort. Speaking with On3 on Tuesday at the On3 Elite Series, the five-star quarterback from Nashville’s Brentwood Academy admitted the week leading up to his commitment was a “movie.”

“I would say, right around commitment time, I was getting phone calls from schools I never visited before,” the No. 16 recruit in the nation said. “I didn’t choose my school based off of money, but it’s good to be able to capitalize off your name. I think it’s greatly benefitted Tennessee and their football and stuff like that, so it’s definitely been good.”

The 6-foot-5.5, 185-pound quarterback did not fall for the others, though. Tennessee beat out Alabama and a number of others for MacIntyre, who is the No. 4 overall quarterback in the 2025 cycle. He’s the grandson of former Vanderbilt coach George MacIntyre, who was named SEC and national coach of the year in 1982. George MacIntyre led Brentwood Academy to the 2022 state semifinals by throwing for 2,341 yards and 19 touchdowns. 

A key reason why George MacIntyre did not fall for any NIL pitches was because he’s retained representation with QB Reps. His agent has now started negotiating with Tennessee because of the preliminary injunction against the NCAA in the NIL lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of Tennessee and Virginia. The ruling now allows booster-funded NIL collectives to communicate with high school recruits and transfer portal players.

“I think the good part about an experienced agent is they can actually put the possible opportunities down on paper for me based on past experiences of other players and what the market value actually is,” he said. “I think just knowing exactly, the details, stuff like that helps where it’s not just a ballpark. He was able to help me understand what it could look like from all the different schools regarding NIL opportunities based on the past, not just Tennessee. That definitely took a lot of stress off, for sure. Peter [Webb] does a really good job. He did a really good job back then, especially, kind of in commitment time.”

George MacIntyre’s growing NIL brand

Because the state of Tennessee allows high schoolers to profit off their NIL, George MacIntyre can get a head start on signing endorsement deals. The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association’s Legislative Council unanimously approved a proposal in December 2022 to allow athletes to pursue NIL opportunities. Athletes can’t use school or association marks in association with NIL deals.

He recently signed a multi-year, exclusive partnership with Leaf Trading Cards. The agreement makes Leaf Trading Cards the sole producer of George MacIntyre’s official trading cards. Since the inception of NIL in college sports in the summer of 2021, the race has been on for trading card brands to sign top high school recruits.

With more than 36,000 social media followers and the Tennessee brand behind him, he’s on track to becoming an NIL star.