For Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar, Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt is more than just a season finale. He will look to spoil the Commodores’ playoff berth. Moreover, it’s a moment heavy with the emotion of a potential farewell that has already brought his mother to tears.

“I just want to say thank you to every single person who has come to all of Joey’s Games, everyone who has supported Joey here,” Lydia Aguilar got teary-eyed as she talked about the support shown by Vols Nation when she appeared on WVLT news. “Vol Nation, we appreciate all of you guys. So thank you to all of our family who have come from California, Arizona, Mexico, Florida, everywhere. All his App State family who have come and visited him and seen his games. We appreciate every single one of you guys.”

In a show of gratitude, she reposted a fan’s tribute to Aguilar with the caption, “We appreciate you so much.”

She has become known for supporting her son through thick and thin. Her reaction to Joey’s debut match went viral as she came to help him with 20+ members of the family. And she will be out there cheering her son as he takes the field for one last time. Moreover, Lydia has been vocal about the role fans play in boosting her son, and regularly expresses her feelings via her social media handles. 

Joey Aguilar arrived in Knoxville in 2025 from UCLA after multiple seasons of 300+ yards at Appalachian State University. After arriving in Tennessee, he maintained his stellar form, leading the Volunteers from the front to some memorable wins. The senior QB is the fifth quarterback in Tennessee history to record 3,000+ passing yards in a single season.

He was instrumental in the Volunteers’ 31-11 victory over Florida in the Swamp, the team’s first win at Florida since 2003. He threw for 204 yards and a touchdown. His resilience and composure under pressure make the farewell even harder.

On Saturday morning, Tennessee released a list of 17 players who will be honored on senior day. QB1 Aguilar is one of them, making it a bittersweet moment for his mother. Walking back inside Neyland Stadium for the last time on Saturday is something Lydia said she has not thought about too much.

“I have not really thought about it because I don’t really want to think about it,” Lydia said. “It’s the last game, and it’s a bittersweet moment. I am happy where we have gone. I am happy that we have been here, but it is his last game.”

But the 24-year-old would look to put all that behind him and end the season on a high. After falling out of the playoff race following a loss to Oklahoma, the Joey Aguilar-led Volunteers would play for pride. All this in a bid to give the fans some memories to cherish. What started with Lydia Aguilar’s emotional message might end with the Vols winning, taking their record to a respectable 9-3. Meanwhile, there might be some hope for a Joey Aguilar comeback in a new twist regarding his future.

Joey Aguilar’s previous last-ditch effort to return to the Volunteers in 2026

The Vols QB has already spent 7 years in college. In 2019, Aguilar redshirted at City College of San Francisco. In 2020, the COVID pandemic canceled his junior college season there. Finally, he played two junior college seasons at Diablo Valley College in 2021-22, and later, his actual NCAA career began.

In 2023-24, he played at Appalachian State, a Division I FBS school in the Sun Belt Conference. He transferred to UCLA for spring 2025, and then he transferred to Tennessee. This 2025 season is Aguilar’s third season at an NCAA school. But he is going on the path of the Vandy QB Diego Pavia. His legal team filed an amended complaint against the NCAA’s junior college eligibility rule on November 21. Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar, last week, has now joined as a plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit.

The suit challenges NCAA regulations that count junior college seasons toward a player’s four-year eligibility window. Multiple athletes have joined the lawsuit, including Vanderbilt receiver Tre Richardson and Virginia Tech linebacker James Djonkam, all seeking to reform eligibility standards so that junior college competition no longer counts against NCAA eligibility timelines.

For now, there is no decision about Aguilar’s case. Pavia previously secured a sixth year of eligibility through a preliminary injunction granted in December 2024, which also provided a blanket waiver to other junior college transfers like Aguilar. This allowed them another season to play. But Vandy QB declared that this would be his last season.