Josh Heupel Hit With Major Joey Aguilar Red Flag Despite His Unthinkable Actions to Prove Loyalty

Let’s cut straight through the smoke. The name Nico Iamaleava used to ring through Neyland like gospel. But now? It’s become that taboo name you don’t mention at the Neyland Stadium unless you’re trying to start a fight. Josh Heupel isn’t big on nostalgia either. “Let’s start calling it the Joey Aguilar situation,” he said right after snagging his new quarterback. That wasn’t just talk—it was a straight-up declaration of war on the Nico era. A line in the sand. The Nico chapter is closed, and Joey Aguilar got handed the pen. But what started as a low-risk rebound now comes with one big, fat SEC toxic red flag.

On May 10, the host of Locked in Vols pulled the curtain on Joey Aguilar—the good, the bad, and the turnover-prone ugly. First came the loyalty part: “Yeah, he’s still taking online classes at App State. I don’t necessarily know how all that’s going to work. If he’s going to drop the UCLA workload—I don’t know. I think he’s graduating as we speak from App State. But regardless… he needs to get on campus, he needs to learn the offense, he needs to win over his teammates. If he does all those things and he protects the football, I think Tennessee has a chance to be pretty good,” Eric Cain said.

So there it was—a little hope. Aguilar, who swapped UCLA for Tennessee faster than a 5-star flips after a new bag drops, finally gives Heupel something to work with. The former App State fire-thrower got numbers: 6,760 yards and 56 touchdowns with one year left. And that’s not even counting the SEC tax. Tennessee badly needed a vet with Iamaleava gone. Aguilar may not be a household name, but he could be a blue-collar fix. Word is, he’s set to touch down in Knoxville on May 11, freshly graduated with a comms degree, ready to cook in power orange.

Until now, he’s been Zoom-calling his way through Heupel’s offense. A crash course in football and faith, maybe. But come Monday, that theory goes live. The catch? The red flag came right after. “The turnover thing—I fully agree with you there,” co-host Spencer McLaughlin admitted. “Aguilar, double-digit turnovers in each of his last two seasons with Appalachian State. A lot of production. But when you’re a gunslinger and you go into the SEC, that can be a little different.”

No lies told. Aguilar’s tape is a highlight reel one minute and a blooper reel the next. In 2023, the man lit up defenses for 3,757 yards and 33 TDs… but also coughed up 10 picks and fumbled 11 times (six lost). 2024? Same rollercoaster. Yardage dipped to 3,003, with 23 TDs and a head-scratching 14 INTs. The good news? He got better with the rock. Only 3 fumbles last year, one lost.

But still—24 picks, 14 fumbles in two years? In the SEC? That isn’t anything to brush off. Ball security like that doesn’t fly when you’re facing Georgia’s front seven or LSU’s ball-hawking DBs. Joey’s got the arm, no doubt—but he better bring some Velcro gloves and smarter reads, or that SEC welcome party’s going to get ugly quick. A big red flag, if you ask. If we keep it real, so was Nico. So the real question: is he better than Nico?

Nico Iamaleava vs Joey Aguilar: blunt honest analysis

Over the past 2 years, Tennessee fans have been in a cold war with the ghost of Hendon Hooker. Joe Milton never found that groove. Nico Iamaleava? Robotic. Pretty arm, elite recruit, but when the pocket collapsed or the read broke down? He just froze. “He ain’t got that clutch-gene Hooker had,” fans muttered. And they weren’t wrong.

Enter Joey Aguilar. Not the poster boy. Not the perfect passer. But gritty as hell. He isn’t built to sit clean in a pocket—he thrives in chaos. Think backyard football with SEC stakes. In fact, that might be what drew Heupel and OC Joey Halzle to him. Joe will actually throw the ball when the scheme gets someone open. None of that Nico’s ‘hold-it-til-you-get-sacked’ energy. He’s only got one year left, too. So this isn’t a QB room disruptor. Jake Merklinger and George MacIntyre weren’t expecting to start. When Faizon Brandon hits campus, Aguilar will be long gone.

Offense-wise? Joey’s already got the syllabus. App State ran a spread-heavy, RPO, zone-read scheme with a shotgun/pistol base. Sound familiar? That’s basically Heupel’s playbook. The fit is smooth here. Aguilar’s not going to bust a 60-yard run, but he’ll scramble, slide, and zip upfield when defenses drop into deep shells. Arm strength? Not Milton/Iamaleava-tier, but enough to drop dimes. In 2024, he ranked second in the Sun Belt for completions of 20+ (42) and 30+ yards (21), and he led in 40+ yard bombs (12).

Yeah, about the picks. Joey Aguilar sometimes thinks he’s got that Mahomes DNA. Back-foot throws into traffic, squeezing passes that never had a chance. Some of it was hero ball. At App State, he had to score every drive just to stay in games. They gave up 32.9 PPG in 2024 (up from 27.9 in 2023). The man was playing catch-up from kickoff. For comparison, Tennessee allowed just 20.3 and 16.1 in those years. In Knoxville, he won’t need to play Superman.

Cost-wise, Aguilar is a bargain. Nico’s NIL number? Rumored to be $1 million more. And no, Tennessee isn’t blowing that saved cash at the mall, but insiders say there’s been an uptick in visits and portal movement since Nico dipped. Might be investing it into 2026 talent. Smart move.

Aguilar isn’t the perfect QB. But perfect isn’t the ask. Tennessee needed someone who can ball, not just look pretty doing it. They needed someone who could make something out of nothing and still put points on the board. Sure, the red flags are flapping. But if Joey Aguilar can limit the turnovers and vibe with the Vols’ tempo, Neyland might just get its next crowd favorite. After all, in SEC country, loyalty and grit still matter. And Joey? He just might have both in spades.