Could Tennessee Really Land Bama’s Austin Mack? The Portal, the Rules, and the Long Game
Let’s address the elephant in the room: a Tennessee-Alabama QB swap in April sounds like the start of an SEC fever dream. Under current NCAA rules, an intra-conference transfer like Austin Mack would have to sit out a season if he left Bama now. So why are some in college football media still floating the idea? Simple. Because in the aftermath of Nico Iamaleava’s NIL-fueled exit, nothing’s off the table anymore.
In case you missed it, Tennessee’s golden boy quarterback ghosted spring practice, reportedly seeking a raise on his $2M NIL deal. When the school wouldn’t budge, he hit the portal. And just like that, the Vols went from future-focused to QB-hunting mode.
Enter Austin Mack, the 6’6” rocket-armed passer at Alabama currently stuck behind Ty Simpson and potentially true freshman Keelon Russell. He underwhelmed in Bama’s spring game, and now speculation is growing. If Mack feels he’s QB3 on DeBoer’s depth chart, the portal might be calling.
But here’s the twist—he can’t play this fall if he moves to another SEC program now. So why would Mack even consider Tennessee?
Because he’s young and smart. Mack reclassified from the 2024 class, making him younger than most second-year players. He’s got time to develop, and sitting a year at a program built to showcase quarterbacks might be better than riding the bench in Tuscaloosa.
Still, don’t expect Neyland to be his first stop. Schools outside the SEC can offer Mack an immediate starting shot. Tennessee would need to sell him on long-term upside and system fit, not short-term stardom.
So is this just fantasy? Not entirely. Josh Heupel’s up-tempo, deep-shot offense would fit Mack’s cannon arm like a glove. With the right development, Mack could be the kind of long-term play Tennessee needs—especially if they use a stopgap QB in 2025.
For now, it’s just chatter. But in a post-Nico world where a $4 million QB might bolt to a non-Power Five school, maybe Austin Mack to Tennessee isn’t that far-fetched.
Call it unlikely. Call it wild. Just don’t call it impossible.