Jarrett James Guarantano (born November 14, 1997) is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He played college football at Tennessee and Washington State.
Early life and high school
Guarantano grew up Lodi, New Jersey, and attended Bergen Catholic where he played football. His father James Guarantano was a wide receiver at Rutgers from 1989 to 1992 and joined later the Rutgers Hall of Fame and later played in the NFL and CFL. Guarantano threw for 3,028 yards and 28 touchdowns and rushed for 523 yards and 12 touchdowns in his prep career. He earned All-Bergen County First-team honors and was a 2016 Under Armour All-America. He was a four-star recruit coming out of high school and top 4 dual-threat quarterback in the nation. He committed to Tennessee over more than 40 scholarship offers from other programs.
College career
Tennessee
2016 season
In his first season, Guarantano took a redshirt year to learn from senior Joshua Dobbs in 2016.
2017 season
Guarantano started the 2017 season as the backup to Quinten Dormady. In the early part of the season, he appeared in relief roles. He threw his first collegiate touchdown to Jeff George in Tennessee's 42–7 victory over Indiana State in the second game. Following a 41-0 loss to Georgia, which was Tennessee's worst home loss since 1905, Guarantano was named the starter for the next game against South Carolina. The remainder of the season was a struggle for the Volunteers program with only one victory over Southern Miss. Tennessee finished 4–8. The program lost eight games for the time in program history to go along with a winless record in conference play. Tennessee's performance in the 2017 season resulted in the firing of head coach Butch Jones. He finished his second year with 997 passing yards and four touchdowns with a completion percentage of 62.0 when starting in six games and appeared in nine contests.
2018 season
Guarantano remained the starter going into the 2018 season under new head coach Jeremy Pruitt. After a 2–3 start, Guarantano played his most complete game in 30–24 upset victory at #21 Auburn. He passed for 328 yards and two touchdowns against the Tigers. Tennessee had two shots at bowl eligibility late in the 2018 season but dropped both games against Missouri and Vanderbilt to finish 5–7. As a sophomore he started all 12 games and passed for 1,907 yards and 12 touchdowns with three interceptions (the lowest since Condredge Holloway in 1972). He broke the school record for consecutive pass attempts without an interception by tossing 166 straight passes without a pick, breaking the old mark of 143 set by Casey Clausen in 2003.
2019 season
The 2019 season started disastrous for the Tennessee Volunteers. Tennessee dropped the season opener to Georgia State 38–30. The loss marked the first for Tennessee to a Group of 5 school since 2008. Guarantano passed for 311 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in the loss. In the following game, he passed for 176 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in a 29–26 2OT home loss to BYU. The Vols started 0–2 for the first time since 1988. Tennessee dropped two of their next three games, losses to top-ten teams Florida and Georgia, to drop to 1–4. Guarantano was benched prior to the Georgia game for Brian Maurer. In the following game, against Mississippi State, Maurer was injured and Guarantano came into the game in relief. He threw a late touchdown to Tyler Byrd to give the Volunteers a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter to help clinch the 20–10 victory. In the following game at #1 Alabama, Tennessee had driven to the Alabama goalline trailing 28–13 in the fourth quarter. Guarantano went against the play call and tried a quarterback sneak and fumbled resulting in a Trevon Diggs 100-yard fumble return for a touchdown. In the next game, he bounced back with a solid 229-yard, two-touchdown game against South Carolina in a 41–21 victory. He broke his non-throwing wrist against South Carolina but never missed a game. Following victories over AUB and Kentucky, Guarantano passed for 415 yards and two touchdowns in a 24–20 victory over Missouri to clinch bowl eligibility for Tennessee. Following a victory over Vanderbilt, Tennessee finished with a 7–5 record and earned an appearance in the Gator Bowl against Indiana. Guarantano passed for 221 yards and two interceptions as Tennessee won 23–22 in a comeback victory. As a junior, he threw for 2,158 yards and 16 touchdowns while starting seven games and playing in all 13. Tennessee's momentum helped earn them a preseason #25 ranking for the 2020 season.