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USA Today
6 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar ranked as No. 50 college football player in 2025
Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar ranked as No. 50 college football player in 2025 Tennessee will kick off its 2025 football season Aug. 30 against Syracuse. The season opener is slated for noon EDT at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. ABC will televise the 2025 Aflac Kickoff Game. Ahead of the upcoming campaign, College Wire's lead writers were polled to determine the top 50 players in college football ahead of the season. Tennessee transfer quarterback Joey Aguilar ranks as the No. 50 player for the 2025 college football season. He transferred to UCLA after the 2024 season from Appalachian State. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound quarterback played at Appalachian State from 2023-24 after transferring from Diablo Valley Community College. More: 2025 Tennessee football post-spring game-by-game predictions Aguilar appeared in 25 games, including 24 starts, at Appalachian State. He completed 511-of-850 passing attempts for 6,760 yards, 56 touchdowns and 24 interceptions, while totaling 456 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 140 attempts. Aguilar recorded at least 200 passing yards in all 24 starts with the Mountaineers. He had four passing touchdowns in four different contests, and 22 touchdown passes were either to tie a game or give his team a lead. Aguilar earned 2023 Cure Bowl MVP and Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year honors. At Diablo Valley Community College from 2021-22, he totaled 2,992 passing yards and 21 touchdowns. PHOTOS: Tennessee starting quarterbacks through the years Follow Vols Wire on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
UCLA QB Joey Aguilar to transfer to Tennessee football to replace Nico Iamaleava
UCLA quarterback Joey Aguilar is expected to transfer to Tennessee football, per multiple reports, swapping places with Nico Iamaleava in the latest strange chapter of this offseason saga. Aguilar is a veteran quarterback who broke records at Appalachian State and transferred to UCLA in December. He was in line to be the Bruins' starting quarterback until Iamaleava came on the scene. Advertisement Iamaleava transferred to UCLA. He entered the portal after leaving Tennessee over a dispute about NIL pay, although his representatives claim it was because of problems with the Vols offense. Aguilar passed for 6,760 yards and 56 touchdowns in two seasons at Appalachian State. Before that, he passed for almost 3,000 yards and 21 TDs in two seasons at Diablo Valley Community College in Pleasant Hill, California. He has one season of eligibility remaining because the NCAA granted a blanket waiver to junior college transfers for one additional year. Aguilar can compete with UT redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger for the starting job in the 2025 season. They will replace Iamaleava, who helped UT to the College Football Playoff last season but left the program after NIL negotiations broke down. Advertisement The transfer portal is open April 16-25. Joey Aguilar stats at Appalachian State before UCLA Aguilar is experienced with 41 games played in college, including 24 starts at Appalachian State. The 6-foot-3, 220-pounder is from Antioch, California. He did not receive a Division I scholarship offer out of high school. But he had a successful stint in junior college, which drew multiple FBS offers. He was in line to sign with Coastal Carolina, but a coaching change re-directed his recruitment to Appalachian State. In 2023, Aguilar was the Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year and the Cure Bowl MVP after breaking multiple school records. He passed for 3,757 yards, 33 TDs and 10 interceptions. And he rushed for 249 yards and three TDs. Advertisement In 2024, Aguilar passed for 3,003 yards, 23 TDs and 14 interceptions. And he rushed for 207 yards and two TDs. That landed him a transfer to UCLA, but his time there was short. Who Tennessee football has at quarterback UT has two other scholarship quarterbacks, Merklinger and freshman George MacIntyre. Merklinger, a former four-star recruit, passed for 48 yards in two games as a freshman in 2024. He was the No. 11 quarterback in the 2024 class, according to 247Sports Composite rankings. MacIntyre, a four-star recruit, signed with UT in the 2025 class and enrolled in January. The former Brentwood Academy standout was ranked the No. 13 quarterback in the 2025 class. Advertisement Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at Get the latest news and insight on SEC football by subscribing to the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox. This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: UCLA QB Joey Aguilar to transfer to Tennessee to replace Nico Iamaleava | Reports
USA Today
17-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Breaking down quarterback Joey Aguilar by the numbers in college
Breaking down quarterback Joey Aguilar by the numbers in college The NCAA transfer portal spring window opened Wednesday and will close April 25. Tennessee is in search for a quarterback to add to its roster after spring football practices. Following spring football, redshirt sophomore quarterback Nico Iamaleava entered the transfer portal, leaving Tennessee with two signal-callers on roster in redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and early enrollee true freshman George MacIntyre. Vols Wire highlighted how UCLA senior quarterback Joey Aguilar would be an ideal option for Tennessee to add to its 2025 roster. Aguilar transferred to UCLA after the 2024 season from Appalachian State. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound quarterback played at Appalachian State from 2023-24 after transferring from Diablo Valley Community College. He played in a pro tempo offense at Appalachian State under an offensive line head coach Shawn Clark. The Mountaineers' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach was Frank Ponce. Ponce was also at Miami as passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach in Mario Cristobal's first season as head coach in 2022. Ponce is now at FIU coaching tight ends under first-year head coach Willie Simmons. Simmons was running backs coach at Duke in 2024 with Star Thomas. Thomas transferred to Tennessee on Jan. 19 and went through spring football practices with the Vols. Aguilar appeared in 25 games, including 24 starts, at Appalachian State, completing 511-of-850 passing attempts for 6,760 yards, 56 touchdowns and 24 interceptions. He also totaled 456 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 140 attempts. Aguilar recorded at least 200 passing yards in all 24 starts with the Mountaineers. He had four passing touchdowns in four different games. 22 touchdown passes were either to tie a game or give his team a lead. Aguilar was named 2023 Cure Bowl MVP and Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year. At Diablo Valley Community College from 2021-22, he totaled 2,992 passing yards and 21 touchdowns. Follow Vols Wire on Facebook and X.
