Josh Heupel addresses Tennessee's quarterback depth, what's next for the Vols
Josh Heupel on Wednesday went down the list of all the boxes Jake Merklinger checks off. The four-star quarterback who signed with Tennessee on National Signing Day on Wednesday had everything the Vols were looking for.
“Smart, competitive,” Heupel said during his signing day press conference. “He’s got good fundamentals … his football IQ, his ability to retain information, process out on the football field. He’s a winner, he’s competitive, he’s got the right makeup.”
The only problem is the learning curve that stands in the way of Merklinger, the 6-foot-3, 195-pound prospect out of Calvary Day School in Savannah, Ga., and all that potential.
“He’s going to have to grow really quickly,” Heupel admitted. “He’ll get spoon fed as we start here in January and grow into spring football.”
Even the fundamentals that Heupel lauded will need some attention early on.
“We’ve gotta refine some of those things,” he said. “He’s already been working on those as he stepped foot on campus.”
Merklinger was ranked No. 148 overall in the On3 Industry Ranking. He was ranked as the No. 10 quarterback in the class and was the No. 29 overall prospect out of the state of Georgia.
His development will be expedited as he joins a Tennessee roster and quarterback room that next season will include five-star sophomore starter Nico Iamaleava, former UCF walk-on Gaston Moore and walk-on Navy Shuler.
Redshirt senior Joe Milton III returned to the Vols for the 2023 season, passing for 2,813 yards, 20 touchdowns and five interceptions after taking over for Hendon Hooker late in the 2022 season.
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Milton backing up Hooker in 2022 and Iamaleava as the five-star backup for Milton this season gave the Vols more than enough quarterback depth. But that could look different in 2024.
It’s easy to talk about having a deep quarterback room, Heupel explained, but it’s harder to actually have it on roster.
“I think quarterback is one of the positions, you look across the country, it’s hard to have the depth at that position that you historically may have had,” he said. “We’re going to continue to always evaluate. That’s true at quarterback, but it’s true at every position here as we go through January.”
Iamaleava signed with the Vols as the No. 1 overall player in the 2023 recruiting class according to the On3 ratings.
And it’s Iamaleava taking over as the starter for the 2024 season, and beyond, that is another hurdle Heupel and his staff have to clear while trying to add quarterback depth.
When he was asked about that on Wednesday — the difficulty of recruiting a veteran quarterback out of the portal to join a roster alongside Iamaleava — Heupel answered with his shortest response of the day.
He only needed four words.
“Yes, sir,” Heupel said. “It is.”
