Tennessee's Josh Heupel, Vanderbilt's Clark Lea at BA to see George MacIntyre
BRENTWOOD – Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel and Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea are at Brentwood Academy to watch sophomore quarterback George MacIntyre along with sophomore Ethan Utley, a defensive lineman at Ensworth in a Division II-AA Middle Region basketball game.
Both are members of their respective basketball programs.
MacIntyre, the grandson of former Vanderbilt football coach George MacIntyre, is the No. 2-ranked quarterback in the country from the Class of 2025 according to the 247Sports Composite. Utley, a 6-foot-5, 260-pound athlete, is not ranked by 247Sports, but has more than 20 offers, including Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
Both MacIntyre and Utley had a chance to visit with Heupel prior to Friday night's game. Heupel traveled around the Nashville area talking to coaches during the school day.
Heupel attended the game with Tennessee offensive coordinator Joey Halzle.
Lea, who was sitting two rows in front of Heupel, put on a full-court press for the athletes. He attended the game with defensive end coach Jovan Haye, defensive line coach Larry Black and offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Joey Lynch.
"I saw Coach Heupel at school (Friday)," Utley said. "I didn't talk to Coach Lea (Friday), so that was a surprise. That was cool to see (Coach Black and Coach Haye).
"It's cool to show the connection in a sport that's not even my sport," Utley said. "Basketball isn't even my sport. I can still run up and down. For them to see me in a whole different setting and see how I move and the stuff you don't see on the football field is cool."
MacIntyre said while he didn't see Lea at school Friday, Lynch stopped to visit. He got a chance to meet with Heupel early in the day and Lynch attended the Eagles' basketball shootaround.
"The biggest thing about (Heupel) is he's been there and done it," MacIntyre said. "He was a great player himself. He's carrying on his tactics onto the recruiting scene.
"When Tennessee is good, it's definitely a big deal in Tennessee."
MacIntyre was 175-of-270 passing for 2,341 yards with 19 touchdowns and four interceptions in 2022. He was named to the TSWA Division II-AAA all-state team. Brentwood Academy reached the DII-AAA semifinals this past season.
Utley had 27 total tackles with 11 for loss in 2022. He had 4.5 sacks for the Tigers.
Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Kreager.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee football recruiting: Josh Heupel recruiting George MacIntyre
