Chris Rope 21, 2025, 08:04 PM ET
Close College Football Reporter graduated from the University of Tennessee in 2007 and joined ESPN.com
A day after Nico Iamaleava confirmed his transition from Tennessee to UCLA, Joey Aguilar is essentially doing the same from UCLA to Tennessee in a quarterback deal, a source told ESPN on Monday.
Aguilar was a front runner who moved from Appalachia to UCLA during the winter portal and became the Bruins’ starting quarterback this fall. However, UCLA announced the signature of Iamaleava on Sunday, and Aguilar joined Spring Portal on Monday.
Tennessee coach Josh Hepel said on April 12 that the Vols would add another quarterback to Spring Portal when he announced the program without Iamaleava. When Aguilar became available, Tennessee quickly showed interest. The 6-3, 220 pound senior remains one year of eligibility after passing 6,760 yards and 56 touchdowns in the last two seasons for Appalachia. Originally from Antioch, California, Aguilar began his career at Diablo Valley Community College.
The deal Aguilar is finalizing to go to Tennessee is financially similar to the deal he previously agreed to at UCLA, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel. He had $1.2 million remaining to UCLA in his deal, and his new contract in Tennessee is close to that. Tax account for it, it’s a similar salary for Aguilar. He also had already made more than $200,000 in his first few months at UCLA.
Iamaleava, a Tennessee starter as a redshirt freshman last season, entered the portal on April 16th, the first day the portal was opened. He skipped practice the previous Friday and did not warn his coaches or teammates. That day, after several people around the program tried to contact him, Iamaleava called offensive coordinator Joey Halzle that night to let him know that he had entered the portal and not attended the Vols spring match the following day. That morning, Hepel said he had never heard of it from Iamaleava – told the team that Iamaleava is no longer part of the program.
Heupel thanked Iamaleava for his contribution to the program, but added, “No one is bigger than the Power T. It includes me.”
A representative for Iamaleava was pushing to increase his deal, sources told ESPN, and ON3 reported Thursday on Friday before Iamaleava missed practice that the two sides were in negotiations. Iamaleava was scheduled to win this year in the $2.4 million range from Tennessee. He signed his first contract with Spire Sports Group, a Tennessee-based group. His entire contract was reportedly $8 million, but if he had been in Tennessee all along, it would be close to $10 million. Sources told ESPN that Iamaleava’s representative had hoped he would be in the $4 million range to stay in Tennessee for the third season.
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Iamaleava took over his starter duties by redshirting his first season on campus and helping Tennessee lead the college football playoffs last year. He finished with 2,616 passing yards and 19 touchdowns, but in the playoff game he only passed more than 200 yards twice in nine games against SEC opponents and Ohio State.
Aguilar was the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year, which began with 24 games in two years at Appalachia. He set a school record with 4,002 yards total offensive total for the climber’s first season, and set a regular season school record with 33 touchdown passes. His numbers soaked some in 2024 with 3,003 yards and 23 touchdowns. He had a career of 424 yards with 32 completions in his East Carolina victory. Aguilar was intercepted 14 times last season, throwing 24 intercepts during his two-year career in Appalachian.
Last week, news broke that UCLA is likely to be Iamaleava’s destination, so Aguilar representatives began reaching out to different schools to gauge their interest.
UCLA coach Deshaun Foster said two weeks ago that offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri has “full belief” about what he can do with Aguilar and Sunseri’s “one year quarterback record.”
Foster said every day in the spring, Aguilar calms down and “makes the attack work more comfortably.” Aguilar was only on campus for some three months. He will have roughly the same time to prepare to start preseason practice in Tennessee. He will be joining redshirt freshman Jake Mecklinger and true freshman George McIntyre as three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster. Neither plays meaningful college snaps.
