Former Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano announced Friday that he has committed to Washington State as a graduate transfer after five seasons in the Volunteers program. Guarantano will have one season of eligibility with the Cougars, who are coming off a 1-3 season in Nick Rolovich's first year as coach.
Rolovich, who was previously the coach at Hawaii, runs a pass-heavy system dubbed the run-and-shoot. Freshman quarterback Jayden De Laura showed flashes of promise in the system during the abbreviated season, but Guarantano will add a veteran voice to the Cougars' quarterback room while competing for the starting job.
After redshirting as a true freshman in the 2016 season, Guarantano took over as the Tennessee starter in the second half of the 2017 season -- Butch Jones' last as coach. Guarantano's best season was arguably the 2018 campaign as he completed 62.2% of his passes with 12 touchdowns and just three interceptions while appearing in all 12 games under first-year coach Jeremy Pruitt.
Guarantano struggled to maintain the starting job over the past two seasons and did not play in the final three games of the season as the Vols turned to freshman Harrison Bailey and redshirt sophomore J.T. Shrout, who has since transferred to Colorado. In total, Guarantano finished his Tennessee career with 6,174 passing yards, 38 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Though he was heralded as the top dual-threat quarterback in the 2016 recruiting class by the 247Sports Composite rankings, his running ability has not translated to the college game as he finished his Tennessee career with more yards lost than gained on the ground.
