Former UCLA QB Impresses at New School

After hearing that both Nico and Madden Iamaleava were transferring into Westwood, Appalachian State transfer Joey Aguilar decided to pack his bags and look outside of UCLA. Since a spot opened up at Tennessee, it was only fitting that Aguilar would take the vacant position that Iamaleava was supposed to fill.

While Aguilar is still in a tough battle for the QB1 throne of the Volunteers, head coach Josh Heupel has been impressed with the transfer's progress and understanding of the offense. Huepel highlighted his thoughts after a 2-hour scrimmage on August 9th, according to Vols Wire.

"With what we're doing offensively, in our installs from protections, to run game, controlling it and what he's seeing on the other side of the football, how multiple we've been here in the early part of training camp, I really like, overall, what he's done," Heupel said. "There's still more for him within the structure and the details of it, but I like what he's done."

Aguilar is competing with true freshman George MacIntyre and redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger. Each one of them had the opportunity to command the offense on Saturday, but Heupel is yet to name a starter.

“I’m not naming a starter today, but all three of those guys have shown some really good characteristics of doing some special things with the ball, also managing the game, eliminating negatives,” Heupel told UTSports.com. “There are some things that each of them and collectively as a group, we have to get better at, and that’s always the nature of this point in training camp.”

Who to Choose?

Each QB comes into the battle with their own sets of skills and perspectives. MacIntyre has the highest upmost potential in the group, Merklinger already has a year of the Vols' system under his belt, and Aguilar brings the most high-level game experience.

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel during Tennessee football preseason practice, in Knoxville, Tennessee, July 31, 2025. | Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The fact that Tennessee hasn't named a starter yet comes down to two reasons: either Heupel is still hoping for one of his guys to separate from the rest, or he's hoping that stretching out this battle will only lead to each QB elevating his play even more.

Whatever the decision ends up being, Joey Aguilar is on the right track to earning that starting spot. Iamaleava and Aguilar's name will always be intertwined, so it's best to keep a lookout on both of them.

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