HOOVER, Ala. — Jarrett Guarantano is in his third year as a starting quarterback for the Tennessee Vols. He's on his third offensive coordinator in as many years with Jim Chaney now calling the plays.
The redshirt junior has already built comfort with his new play caller.
"I think coach Chaney really trusts me with the offense," said Guarantano on Tuesday at SEC media days. "I know that he has me really calling protections. He has me calling plays, my own plays, at the line.
Guarantano said he and Chaney have met countless times and have gotten a feel for what each other is comfortable with offensively.
The 21-year-old passed for 1,907 yards and 12 touchdowns last season. He only threw three interceptions. This led to Pro Football Focus giving the quarterback the second-highest quarterback grade in the SEC, behind only Tua Tagovailoa from Alabama.
With Chaney as Tennessee's offensive mind, the perception is that Guarantano's ceiling is even higher than before. The young quarterback has embraced that and head coach Jeremy Pruitt recognizes it.
"I think he's grown confidence. I think he feels good about his relationship with coach Chaney [and] coach Weinke," coach Pruitt said.
There is no doubt that Guarantano is the leader of the Tennessee football team. He won MVP honors at the 2018 and 2019 Orange & White games. However, his dedication to improving stands out.
"Anybody that wants to improve themselves and willing to work with somebody, I think that says a lot about them," coach Pruitt said. "I think Jarrett's kind of a gym rat."
Guarantano worked out with a personal quarterback coach over the summer, as well as attended the Manning Passing Academy in late June.
"Luckily, me and Peyton have a good relationship...he told me to go back and look at interception tape, sack tape, touchdown tape, look at different drives [and] look at red zone," Guarantano said. "I think that Peyton is really helping me out a lot."
With positive relationships with Peyton Manning and Jim Chaney mixed with dedication to off season workouts, Guarantano has the full trust of the program. So much so, that Tennessee fans will see him calling the shots this season.
"I've said before, football comes really easy to him. He gets the game," coach Pruitt said. "He can handle a lot. So the more we can put on him at the line of scrimmage, it's going to make our offense more effective."