Tennessee thought 2024 was gonna be the golden ticket. College Football Playoff, big-time spotlight, whole squad locked in. They even made it, cracked the code, showed up in Columbus like they had something to prove… only to get smacked sideways by Ohio State. 42-17. Yeah, it was ugly. But it’s cool, the Buckeyes won it all, so nobody really tripped. Fast forward to now, spring ‘25, and man—it’s chaos. With Nico Iamaleava gone. Joey Aguilar is in town. The whole offense just got a remix and has new questions.

Here’s the quick recap: Nico Iamaleava dipped. Gone. Left over a bag. The man wanted to double his bag. Vols said, “No one bigger than the T,” and let him walk. Enter: Joey Aguilar, fresh out of the UCLA witness protection program. The man never even played a snap for the Bruins. Now? He’s the guy. So the million-dollar question is: Can Tennessee keep that 10-win magic rollin’ with a Sun Belt slinger at the wheel?

Things got even juicier on May 2. Cousin Shane pulled up on Paul Finebaum’s show and started throwing darts. Paul hit him with the heat: “Let’s talk about the fiasco in Tennessee—because it’s over now. Joey Aguilar is your starter.” Shane didn’t hesitate: “Well, you know, I heard Heupel on there the other day—somebody asked him about the Nico Iamaleava situation and he now calls it ‘the Aguilar situation’. So we’ve moved past it. That’s a name we just do not speak about anymore in the state of Tennessee.” 

He kept it real though. Shane said, “The only concern I really have is that you’ve got Syracuse and Georgia within the first three football games. So Aguilar’s really going to get thrown into the fire early.” Meaning? He isn’t Nico, but he isn’t going to crash the car either. The early stretch is wild though—Syracuse and Georgia in the first 3 games? Baptism by fire. Tennessee got the second-easiest SEC schedule, sure, but if Joey doesn’t get hot quick, it could get ugly real fast.

Shane kept it real about Vols’ ceiling and floor: “Well, everybody that knows Cousin Shane knows I’m the Big Orange homer. So I say the ceiling is 10 [wins], but I think the floor could be 8. I do think that Tennessee—you know, this wasn’t Nico’s team. This is Josh Heupel’s team. So I fully expect them to again be one of the most elite running teams in the country.”

Let’s get something straight—Joey Aguilar isn’t any scrub. He threw 56 touchdowns in 2 years at App State. 6,700+ yards. 60% completion rate. But all due respect, this ain’t the Sun Belt. This is the SEC, where defensive ends run 4.5s and cornerback gets drafted in the 1st round. Still, with that cupcake-ish schedule (No. 24 in national strength), Tennessee just might finesse their way back into the convo. Shane said it best: Ceiling? 10 wins. Floor? 8. This is Josh Heupel’s team now.

Josh Heupel throws shade at Nico Iamaleava

So, on April 10, Nico’s camp came knocking at Spyre Sports Group—asking for a double-up on his $2 million per year NIL deal. Heupel wasn’t going for it. The next day, Nico ghosted practice, skipped team meetings, and filed for transfer by sundown. April 12, Heupel aired it out publicly. No cryptic tweets. No sugarcoating. Just facts. The golden boy quit on his team.

And a week later? Nico flew back home to Cali and signed with UCLA like nothing happened. But get this—UCLA lost THREE QBs in that span, including Joey Aguilar. The same Joey who never even touched a game ball in Westwood. He did a full 360 and landed in Knoxville. You can’t make this up.

Heupel didn’t waste time moving on. April 30 – he hit the 104.5 The Zone podcast in Nashville. The host tossed him a spicy one. “Obviously the Nico situation. I’m just curious from your point of view in today’s world of college football with all of the transitions and everything. How surprised were you with the way that all played out and that he’s no longer on that roster?”

Coach Heupel shot back: “Let’s start calling it the Joey Aguilar situation. At the end of the day, that’s just the landscape. You’re not going to keep everybody. Got opportunities to put your roster together. I feel like we got a team that’s accountable, connected, works hard, competes hard, and we’re built to win. Now we gotta earn it every single day. And we got some new pieces that got to get onboarded here in the course of May, that’s the nature of college football. So, we’ll get ready and keep competing.”  Translation: Nico, who? This is Heupel’s house now. And Joey Aguilar? He’s the new tenant.

Let’s be real—this isn’t about Nico anymore. It’s about what Joey can do with what he’s got. And Tennessee? They got pieces. Easy-ish schedule. Returning talent. An HC who doesn’t flinch. If Aguilar just keeps it solid—no turnovers, keep drives alive, hit the layups—the Vols can easily sneak back to 10 wins. Fringe playoff squad? Maybe. But they’re still in the mix.

Paul Finebaum tried to poke holes in the whole situation, but even he had to admit—this program didn’t crumble. It pivoted. Quick. And Cousin Shane doubled down: “This wasn’t Nico’s team. This was always Heupel’s team.” Bottom line? Tennessee’s riding into 2025 with a chip, a new QB, and a whole lotta smoke. Nico tried to play hardball and ended up in the ACC shadows. Heupel? He flipped the script, made it the Aguilar Era, and told the world: we’re still outside. Don’t be surprised when the Vols get 9 dubs by Halloween. Just remember who warned you.