“Let’s start calling it the Joey Aguilar situation,” Josh Heupel said soon after acquiring the quarterback, wanting to move on from the Nico Iamaleava tag. Now, he can finally get his QB1 race kick-started. In a serious lack of a seasoned QB with Iamaleava’s departure, the HC found some respite in UCLA trade-off Aguilar. Now, it won’t be long before the new Tennessee QB throws the ball in his new colors. While the former was the center of attention when it came to loyalty in college football, Aguilar is doing the opposite. Josh Heupel has some serious reason to be excited about.

Joey Aguilar entered the transfer portal from UCLA as rumors of DeShaun Foster landing Iamaleava became apparent. While the former Tennessee star brings some serious upgrades to the Bruins, Aguilar proves to be a just replacement as well. He CFB career so far has 6,759 yards, 56 TDs with one year of eligibility left. Aguilar comes with experience and great numbers, which is the perfect combination Heupel could have hoped for in Iamaleava’s replacement. The former QB threw in an unsavory pause in Heupel’s offseason practice, especially because everything was being set for him after spring ball. Aguilar, the saving grace that he is, will soon unite with his new coach.

Both the QBs were yet to arrive at their new homes because they had been wrapping up their last semesters in their current ones. Aguilar, however, seems to have formally closed his Appalachian University chapter and will soon flock to Knoxville. According to Rocky Top Now on X, Aguilar will arrive in Tennessee on Monday, May 11. He is now officially a graduate in Communication Studies and is in the clear to take on the reins at Tennessee’s QB room. But he will have to fight off some names to get that starting spot, in very limited time.

Aguilar will be leading the room with existing candidates George MacIntyre and Jake Merklinger. He is locked in on becoming a Tennessee player, based on his commitment to learn even before he arrives on campus. Until now, Aguilar communicated with coaches virtually, learning as much as he could even while he was away. Come Monday, Aguilar will finally be able to realize his dream of a seasoned starting quarterback under Josh Heupel.

“As everybody gets back here, then we get into more ball where we’re all together. He’ll start developing timing with the wide receivers as they get out there and start throwing it and growing and starting to build connection with your teammates and start garnering respect from those guys,” Josh Heupel said last week, about Aguilar’s arrival on campus. However, now that Heupel has to go back to square one, predictions for this season see a worrying change.

Joey Aguilar’s addition causes Tennessee’s season odds to drop

Aguilar has just over 100 days before the Vols line up for a snap against Syracuse. And, he arrives fresh into the SEC after playing in the Sun Belt. Aguilar will not have it easy in training in the offseason and will be an entirely new element when facing some key rivals. Heupel is coming off 10 wins from last season. Now, with the Iamaleava problem gone and a new QB in, there are chances that the HC will publish a single-digit finish. Cousin Shane appeared on Paul Finebaum’s show and discussed a projected end for the Vols, with Aguilar in the mix.

“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,” Shane said. Aguilar has heaps of experience compared to Iamaleava. But that doesn’t mean that the Vols fans have their fears calmed with the new QB’s addition. The SEC is a big stage, and so is Tennessee. Whatever was riding along Iamaleava’s shoulders is now on Aguilar’s, along with some more. Urban Meyer also raised an alarm about the worrying number of his INTs, which he scored in just two seasons at Appalachian State.

“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,” the co-host added. The fall isn’t a dramatic one, but Heupel still has a formidable team. The test for him is to make an SEC quarterback out of Aguilar. He won’t be Nico Iamaleava in any way, but he has to better than what he has done so far.

Josh Heupel stands at an important position in his career. He became the talk of the town at the cost of Nico Iamaleava, and he has to show that the team remains unaffected with his departure. Will he be able to do that with Joey Aguilar, and the short time he has to develop the QB into someone worthy of filling in for the scorned Tennessee QB?