Oklahoma pulled off college football’s first trade, not Tennessee or UCLA

College football is becoming more and more like professional football every moment. There’s basically free agency every offseason, so there might as well be trades, too.

Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Volunteers were part of the biggest story in college football last week when their quarterback, Nico Iamaleava, dramatically entered the transfer portal because he wanted more money before ending up at UCLA.

To replace Iamaleava, the Volunteers on Monday reportedly added former UCLA quarterback Joey Aguilar, completing what could be considered a rare player trade in college football.

Some claimed the move was the first of its kind in college football — swapping quarterbacks during the same offseason — but Heupel’s alma mater accomplished the player-for-player trade long before he did.

Before the 2016 season, the Oklahoma Sooners basically traded an aging veteran that could make an immediate impact to the Texas A&M Aggies for a young rookie with potential.

On Dec. 24, 2025, freshman Kyler Murray announced he was transferring to OU after just one year with the Aggies, during which he won then lost the starting quarterback job.

Only a few days later, on Jan. 4, 2016, Trevor Knight, with only one year of eligibility left, announced he would transfer to Texas A&M for his final season, completing the trade.

Ironically, Knight made his Texas A&M debut against UCLA as the Aggie’s’ Week 1 starter. Battling through an injury, he threw for 2,432 yards and 19 touchdowns while rushing for 614 yards and another 10 scores that season.

Meanwhile, since there were actually rules back then, Murray had to sit out the 2016 season after transferring, then backed up Baker Mayfield during the 2017 season. The Aggies got the immediate plug and play they needed, but the Sooners did eventually get their superstar.

Murray finally took over OU’s offense in 2018 and went on to win the Heisman Trophy and become the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.

Ultimately, both programs got just one season from the quarterbacks involved in the swap. However, although patience was needed, the Sooners won the trade in the end, even if neither team actually lost with either move.

As for the second known trade in college football, it’s once again a veteran with one year left for a young freshman.

Aguilar never actually took a snap for UCLA since transferring from Appalachian State this same offseason. He’s already played four seasons of college football, but was gifted a fifth because of the NCAA’s waiver granting former junior college players another year.

Iamaleava started for Tennessee last season as a freshman. Although it wasn’t an impressive campaign, outside of his NIL drama, Iamaleava has a lot of future upside as a former five-star recruit.

Only time will tell who wins this trade, but one thing is certain, it wasn’t a first of its kind and neither probably got a Heisman Trophy winner like the Sooners managed.