4 things to know about new Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar

Tennessee secured a commitment from former App State and UCLA quarterback Joey Aguilar on Monday evening.

Aguilar replaces Nico Iamaleava, who left Knoxville in stunning fashion earlier this month and ultimately displaced Aguilar in Westwood. Vols fans were very familiar with Iamaleava, who was a high-profile recruiting target for Tennessee dating back to his high school days.

But while Aguilar is a multi-year starter at the FBS level, he was a relative-unknown to most SEC fans prior to the Iamaleava transfer saga.

Here are a few things Vols fans need to know about their new quarterback:

Joey Aguilar began his career at the JUCO level

Aguilar debuted at the FBS level at App State, but that was his first introduction to college football. He began his college career at Diablo Valley College near San Francisco. He was a multi-year contributor for the Vikings, throwing for 2,992 yards across a couple of JUCO seasons.

Aguilar also showed off his legs during the first couple years of his college career. He rushed for 619 yards across his 2 seasons at Diablo Valley.

It’s also important to note that Aguilar is only eligible for the 2025 season because of a blanket waiver that was issued following a Diego Pavia lawsuit that granted former JUCO players additional eligibility at the FBS level. If not for that waiver, Aguilar’s college career would have been over after the 2024 campaign.

Joey Aguilar was prolific at App State

After a respectable JUCO career, Aguilar ended up at App State ahead of the 2023 season. He went on to have one of the most prolific careers in App State history.

He departed Boone with 6,760 passing yards, making him 1 of just 3 quarterbacks in program history (at the FBS level) to clear 6,700 yards in a career. Aguilar trails only Taylor Lamb and Zac Thomas in that regard, but each of those quarterbacks spent 3+ years as the starter while Aguilar was there for just 2 seasons. Aguilar is 5th all-time in passing yards at App State includes stats from the years where it was playing against FCS competition.

The 2023 campaign was certainly Aguilar’s best year in Boone. He completed 64% of his passes and had a 33-to-10 TD-to-INT ratio while leading the Mountaineers to a 9-win season.

Joey Aguilar reportedly had a 7-figure deal with UCLA

While Aguilar may not be a name that’s known to many around college football, he was certainly a hot commodity during the winter transfer window. According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Aguilar signed an NIL deal worth well over $1 million when agreed to join the Bruins.

Thamel is also reporting that Aguilar’s deal with Tennessee will be “close” to the $1.2 million that was remaining on his UCLA deal. That’s roughly half of the $2.4 million that Iamaleava was reportedly scheduled to make had he remained in Knoxville for the 2025 campaign.

Joey Aguilar isn’t afraid to take risks

As a player, Aguilar isn’t afraid of letting the ball fly down the field. He proved that over his 2 seasons at App State in a variety of ways.

According to Pro Football Focus, Aguilar led the Sun Belt in 2024 with 26 passes that graded out as “big-time throws.” No other Sun Belt QB even had 20 such passes last season. His big-time throw rate of 6.2% is also well above average.

Aguilar boasted an impressive average depth of target (ADOT) of 11.7 yards last season, per PFF. That led all Sun Belt quarterbacks who attempted at least 200 passes in 2024.

Of course, gunslingers often put the ball in harm’s way and Aguilar was no different in 2024. He posted a 5.4% turnover-worthy play rate, which ranked 3rd-worst amongst Sun Belt quarterbacks with at least 200 pass attempts last season. Josh Heupel and his staff will have to hone in on some of his decision-making before the season begins this fall.