When all the head coaches out there are sitting in a room, drawing offensive schemes in their rooms, Tennessee HC Josh Heupel has a different philosophy. Over the years, the Vols HC has developed a reputation for being one of the most innovative offensive minds. But it all begins in a conference room. Every week, Heupel calls in his ‘football scientists’ that include everyone from young coaches to veterans. For Heupel, “all ideas are welcomed.” Even on the field, the coach often, depending on his up-tempo offense, likes to read the opponent’s defense much earlier and adjust his calls accordingly. But one thing that might get overlooked is his approach to his quarterbacks. 

Whether it’s Hendon Hooker, Joe Milton, or Nico Iamaleava, Heupel has always understood the strengths of his QBs and developed them into his weapons who can act lightning fast– that’s, in fact, the only thing he asks of his signal callers. He customizes the tempo, reads, and even spacing to match his quarterback’s DNA. And now, he has a new QB to train under his wing– Joey Aguilar. Someone, he believes, has “the ability to stand and make plays outside of the pocket, and can use him in the run game, too.” So being over the Iamaleava chapter, Heupel doesn’t have the vision of shoehorning Aguilar into Nico’s shoes. It’s about tailoring the offense to him. And that’s exactly what The Hard Count’s J.D. PicKell believes will happen.

Picking up the question yesterday, PicKell began, “What are you going to ask of Joey Aguilar in 2025? Because with different quarterbacks, it’s the same system under Josh Heupel but is it not gonna look a touch different? Will it not gonna be some different things than a Nico Iamaleava? ‘Cause good coordinators, good play callers, they call their offense differently for different quarterbacks. Like they play to their skill set. We’ve seen Josh Heupel do that for a number of different guys like from Hendon Hooker to Joe Milton to Nico Iamaleava. He called the system differently. And so I think that’s the first thought around it like what you gonna ask of Joey Aguilar?

“If I’m Josh Heupel, I’m going to ask him to be Joey Aguilar. Don’t come out here and try to be Joe Milton, to be Hendon Hooker. Like go do what you do. Go do what got you to this spot, which is you pull the trigger, you let it rip, brother. Like, you play with a reckless abandon that maybe we have to rein in a little bit. We want to cut down on those INTs, for sure. I think Joey Aguilar playing to his own strengths, and Josh Heupel elevating those, that’s going to be a massive part as to why Tennessee is successful. Not because he’s trying to keep it all to the vest and trying to not make the big mistake. Like, just go let it rip, dude. Let Josh Heupel be Josh Heupel. Let him rein in those mistakes, but you go be you, that’s I think the biggest part of this. Now, what’s going to make him successful, though, is what happens upstairs for him, like the processing of it all.

“Tennessee, they go a mile a minute when it comes to how they operate offensively. They go NASCAR fast. It’s not an overly complex system, I don’t believe, to execute. It’s a complex system when you’re going a play every 20 seconds. That’s the big task for Joey Aguilar. And Kaden Smith, producer of Hard Count here, said multiple times here ‘I want to see Joey Aguilar just borderline roommate status with Josh Heupel this offseason.’ I want him dialed-in to the inner workings of this offense as much as possible so we can run our system on time to the speed we want it running at because how fast they go, a lot of times that puts the defense on their heels to equate to some big plays. I don’t wanna undersell the complexity of the scheme ’cause that’s definitely a scheme that will give defense fits just how it operates with the wide splits and all those things.”

It’s not about memorizing plays—it’s about muscle memory, split-second decision-making, and syncing every read with warp-speed precision and most of all, being consistent. Aguilar, though, isn’t rattled by big stages. This is a fifth-year player who’s been through the football wringer—JUCO trenches, Sun Belt shootouts, a brief stop in Westwood, and now SEC Saturdays. He’s got deep-ball placement, off-platform creativity, and legit guts in the pocket. Need proof? Watch his tape of when he had three rushers in his face, feet nowhere near set, yet he dropped a dime downfield.

And this is the best setup Joey Aguilar has ever walked into. Forget UCLA—this Tennessee offense is loaded. Aguilar enters his fifth year with the best receivers, best coaching, and most offensive line support he’s had in his college career. Last season, Tennessee’s offense hit a wall when it came to explosive plays. Despite Iamaleava’s ceiling, the Vols’ vertical threat faded. Aguilar, on the other hand, has shown deep-ball placement and poise under pressure. And unlike the Vols’ 2024 air attack, which stalled far too often, Aguilar brings a fearless trigger. That could be the key to reviving the big-play element.

Defensively, Tim Banks returns a veteran-laden unit that should once again be stout. That makes Joey Aguilar’s job a little easier: don’t carry the team—ignite it. Tennessee also boasts backfield depth with DeSean Bishop, who quietly shone behind Dylan Sampson last year. If Bishop pops, and the tempo holds, Aguilar won’t need to be Superman. He just needs to be the same QB who made App State a threat in every game last fall.

The question floating around Rocky Top isn’t can Aguilar replicate Nico’s production, it’s— can he exceed it? The Vols aren’t caught up in hypotheticals anymore. What’s done is done. The discussion now turns to maximizing this roster with this quarterback. And with Aguilar’s moxie, arm talent, and the perfect environment for risk-friendly playmaking, it might not be that wild to believe he can outperform what 2024 Nico would’ve done in the same spot. Josh Heupel’s never had a quarterback lead the SEC in turnovers. That’s not by accident.

Tennessee’s ‘slow burn’ recruiting style reflects Josh Heupel’s steady hand

If you’re a Vols fan, refreshing your feed for a commitment after every big recruiting weekend and walking away disappointed—take a breath. There’s a method to Josh Heupel’s mellow madness. Unlike some programs that crank up the heat and strong-arm kids into early pledges, the Vols operate with a different playbook.

VolQuest’s Austin Price shed some light on the behind-the-scenes approach during an appearance on 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will. “I do think they are never going to be a program that tries to squeeze a kid or push a kid to do something. I just don’t think that’s Josh Heupel’s nature. And a lot of programs do that.” It’s a chill vibe—but it works. And families across the recruiting landscape are starting to notice and appreciate it.

Sure, fans might get a little twitchy when a big weekend comes and goes without fireworks. “There were no commitments from last weekend, or there were no commitments out of the last couple of weekends—much like a year ago. And then all of a sudden, boom, boom, boom.”

So hang tight, because the commitment dominoes will fall. “I think you’ll start to see that later this week. Tennessee’s going to have a run of commits over the next two weeks, and it won’t be sky is falling.” Putting pressure on kids to commit isn’t a sustainable way to have success in recruiting. In other words, don’t panic—Heupel’s slow-burn recruiting style is built to last, not just flash.