It’s always difficult to bring in a transfer portal quarterback during the summer window and then give him the job. Tennessee football was faced with that task after Nico Iamaleava transferred to the UCLA Bruins at the end of spring practice and the Vols then brought in Joey Aguilar, who transferred from UCLA after playing last year with the Appalachian State Mountaineers.
Truth be told, players on the team are going to usually be more loyal to the other quarterbacks they have worked with, so a summer transfer winning the job may not sit well with them. That was the truth with Josh Heupel when Joe Milton III initially won the job over Hendon Hooker in 2021, and it derailed Ed Orgeron with Brent Schaeffer and the Ole Miss Rebels in 2006.
As a result, you could see why Heupel did not want to name Aguilar the starting Tennessee football quarterback over Jake Merklinger and George MacIntyre just yet. However, comments by Miles Kitselman, Bryson Eason and Arion Carter all suggest it would have been fine.
“Joey’s one of those guys, it’s kind of like when you meet somebody and immediately hit it off,” Kitselman said. “You guys both have the same sense of humor, similar personalities, and it’s kind of like you’ve known each other for a while and it’s something that doesn’t really happen a whole lot.”
The first week the transfer quarterback arrived on campus, Kitselman said Aguilar asked him if he plays the video game “Fortnite” when they all went out to eat. Since then, he says they have started playing it together in what he described as the little spare time they have.
“We play ‘Fortnite’ almost every night,” he said. “It’s just one of those guys that you click with right off the bat, and I think that’s that super special.”
Carter, meanwhile, says as one of the leaders he wanted to reach out to Aguilar once he arrived on campus to discuss expectations they would have for each other. He noted that the linebackers, special teams and quarterbacks sit down occasionally to discuss things and touted Aguilar’s approach.
“Just having a guy like that in your room and having a guy like that in the building is such a great opportunity that we have,” he said. “He’s such a smart guy, very poised, very calm, collected dude, that I wouldn’t change anything for the world to have him on our team, alongside with my other two young quarterbacks that he’s able to go coach up with George (MacIntyre) and Jake (Merklinger).”
Saying having the other young quarterbacks to “coach up” suggests Carter expects Aguilar to win the starting job. He already trusts his leadership despite the fact that they haven’t had one official practice together yet in pads. That says a lot about how Aguilar has won the team over.
Despite his moxy last year, evidenced by his gunslinger mentality, he also seems to be humble off the field. That’s at least what Eason suggested about him and the combination of confidence on the field but humble off the field can win a lot of people over long-term.
“I feel like he’s a worker,” Eason said. “Comes to work every day, has a mission, ready to get better in every aspect he can and wants to bring along guys with him, so everybody can elevate and get better. I feel like overall he’s just a great dude.”
Even with all that, though, Heupel could not outright say he is the starter. The basis for that, beyond just having the pretext that he will win the job, is likely the fact that he needs to fully pick up the Tennessee football offense, which won’t happen for him until fall camp.
“He’s done a great job coming into our program, got there in May, got a chance to go through the installs (from spring ball), the second time through it here during the course of the summer,” Heupel said. “He’s growing every single day, but his ability to connect with the guys inside of our roster as a veteran guy coming in, just developing relationships, then earning the trust of those guys by how you approach every single day.”
