Tennessee has found their guy, at least for game one.
Sunday night it was announced over social media that Joey Aguilar is ‘at the helm‘ of Tennessee Football.
Aguilar will make his 25th FBS start in the Aflac Kickoff Game against Syracuse.
He is the FBS active career leader in total offense per game at 288.5. (min. 2,500 yds).
Head coach Josh Heupel revealed how much of a command Joey Aguilar had of the Vols offense following the second scrimmage. Then about 48 hours later, it’s confirmed Aguilar will start.
“He’s handled himself extremely well in our night walk throughs, which is mental focus, mental sweat, and because of that he’s extremely comfortable in what we’re doing right now,” said Heupel after the second scrimmage.
For Heupel to name Aguilar the day one starter is an incredible feat.
Essentially Aguilar had to learn or become proficient in three different offenses in less than a year.
Just after his junior year at App State he transferred to UCLA. A couple of months later, the Bruins all but make a trade for Nico Iamaleava. Then he made a second transfer to Tennessee.
Following the sudden and late departure of Iamaleava, Tennessee might’ve just been looking for a body, but were hopeful it could be a body that turned into a starting quarterback.
Aguilar wasn’t in the portal but for 12 hours before he made his decision.
Whether he’d earn the starting job, Tennessee had already won.
They found a guy who positively impacts the culture, brings veteran experience, is a strong leader, and wants to play for the Volunteers.
Better yet, he was overjoyed by the embrace from Vols Fans.
“It was very heartwarming,” said Aguilar.
Clearly, Heupel and company saw Aguilar as someone with great upside.
“The maturity that he demonstrated on the phone,” said Heupel. “Just the chance to go through his history and what matters to him. What he’s looking for, what he cares about, fit the culture piece of it. Obviously, I studied the film as well. So, I felt it had the chance to be a really good fit at that point.”
Aguilar went from a gigantic leap to UCLA to an astronomical one when he transferred to Tennessee.
That ‘poor’ performance in the first scrimmage allowed everyone to truly address and identify his true weaknesses.
Then in the second scrimmage, Heupel made it known that Aguilar made meaningful progress.
“He handled himself extremely well,” said Heupel following the second scrimmage. “I think he’s gotten better from day one to today at the second scrimmage, really every single day.”
Aguilar threw 14 interceptions in 2024 during his final season with Appalachian State.
However, the Mountaineers lost nearly a dozen players from 2023 to 2024 season, five were on offense. A pair of wide receivers, a running back, and offensive linemen.
The two wide receivers were the top receivers in 2023.
Still, he said he could’ve done a better job protecting the football.
“Just my mentality is to go out there and have fun, and play the game I’ve been playing since I was a kid,” Aguilar said during Tennessee’s Media Day. “
Now with his name listed first on the depth chart, he has to prove and reprove that each week to keep the job.
