Tennessee thought they were building a dynasty… well, just chaos. It’s been two wild weeks since Nico Iamaleava dipped on the Vols, ditching Knoxville for UCLA over some messy NIL drama. No warning, full drama, just portal gone wild. One minute he’s the golden boy, and the next minute he’s hopping states without even pocketing the $4M bag he was gunning for. Left $2.4M on the table and still bounced. Now, Vol fans are sitting there like, ‘Wait, what just happened?’ But while everyone was busy counting Nico’s nonexistent millions, Josh Heupel was scrambling like a man late for a flight, cooking up a new plan. That plan? Swipe UCLA’s newest QB commit, Joey Aguilar, who himself had just jumped from App State. Yeah, it’s basically the transfer portal version of musical chairs. And the bigger question buzzing around Tennessee right now: is Joey even that guy?
On April 25th, Josh Newberg pulled up on J.D. PicKell’s On3 show and kept it a buck. Newberg fired the real question first: “Do you think Joey Aguilar, who’s not even here for spring ball and won’t show up till summer, is he a bona fide starter next year? Could you pencil him in or is this competition still ongoing?”
PicKell didn’t sugarcoat it. “I think he still has to win the job,” he said straight up. “To me, Josh Heupel handing a guy, after spring practice, who wasn’t there for spring practice, the job doesn’t totally add up to me. But I do think ultimately when you look at what they have on this roster—Jake Merklinger, who hasn’t played any college football; George MacIntyre, early freshman—you probably go with Joey Aguilar. So, I think Joey Aguilar is probably brought there under the pretense of, you have to win the job, but you will be given every opportunity to win the job.”
And then PicKell dropped the real gem: “I think it’s funny when you compare what Joey Aguilar is to what Nico Iamaleava was—kind of an inverse. Like Nico Iamaleava, very conservative with the football. I know a lot of Tennessee fans are a little bit frustrated with the way the Arkansas game ended…”
Oh, we remember. 4th and 5. Down 5 points. 6 seconds left. Everybody’s screaming for a miracle. And what does Nico do? The nonchalant QB runs OUT of bounds. Game over. Vol fans started flashing back to Joe Milton III’s 2021 goof against Ole Miss. Look, unpopular opinion; if Nico had made that throw instead of running out of bounds, Tennessee and Josh Heupel would’ve pulled or cooked $4 million bag for Nico Iamaleava. Why not? Anyway, let’s not dwell on the ifs and buts. Let’s talk about the protagonist now.
Meanwhile, Joey Aguilar? Yeah, he’s letting it rip. For better, for worse, for touchdowns, for interceptions—homeboy’s airing it out. Still, SEC football isn’t the Sun Belt. The speed, the talent, the expectations: Playoffs. Sure, Aguilar tossed 33 TDs one season and 23 the next at App State, but this isn’t a casual Saturday at Boone. Aguilar’s even looking at 7 figures less than Nico’s contract with Tennessee, making you wonder: is he really ready for the big leagues?
PicKell summed it up: “Let’s call a spade a spade here, probably a lower ceiling for a Joey Aguilar based on what we’ve seen from him in his college career and what we think Nico is going to be, you know, long-term from what he was as a high school recruit.” The truth? The Vols know what they signed up for. Joey Aguilar’s not walking in to save the kingdom. He’s walking in to fight for just a winning season.
Josh Heupel and Tennessee’s desperate $1.7M transfer portal move exposed
After Nico bounced, Tennessee found themselves staring at the QB room like it was a bad group project. Red-shirt freshman Jake Merklinger? Talented but raw. True freshman George MacIntyre? Loaded with upside but still green as a dollar bill. Vols needed somebody, anybody, who could step in and not tank the whole 2025 season.
First call? Avery Johnson at Kansas State. He was the full package—dual-threat, rocket arm, marketable, and cooking defenses with a 69.7 QBR. ESPN even dropped a wild quote from a Kansas State insider who said, “They better bring the Tennessee National Guard” if the Vols thought they were poaching Johnson. That’s not just a no—that’s a ‘you’ll get tackled trying.’
Johnson threw for 2,712 yards and 25 touchdowns in 2024 while adding 605 rushing yards and 7 rushing TDs. His NIL valuation? A smooth $1.7 million. He was the big fish. Tennessee couldn’t even get close. Plan B? Luke Altmyer (Illinois) and Josh Hoover (TCU). Both stayed put. No dice. So with no real heavy hitters left on the board, Tennessee circled back to Joey Aguilar, who had just swapped App State for UCLA. Aguilar’s numbers look good on paper—4,844 yards and 43 touchdowns over two years—but there’s a Grand Canyon-sized gap between the Sun Belt and the SEC. One is Friday Night Lights; the other is prime-time Saturday bloodsport.
And let’s not forget the money. Tennessee is not going to drop 7 figures on Aguilar like they were ready to for Nico or maybe Johnson. Joey’s bag is way lighter, signaling that while they want him to compete, they aren’t building statues yet.
The cold truth is Tennessee low-key cornered. No Johnson.. No Altmyer…And no Hoover. No other five-star is walking through that door. So Josh Heupel rolled the dice on Joey, praying he could at least steady the ship. Best case? Aguilar balls out, throws bombs, and the Vols stay dangerous in the SEC East. Worst case? The kid gets eaten alive by Georgia and Alabama defenses while Tennessee starts brewing a fresh batch of QB drama by mid-October.
The post National Reporter Drops Concerning Verdict on Joey Aguilar as Josh Heupel’s Desperate $1.7M Transfer Portal Move Revealed appeared first on EssentiallySports.