Does anything scream college football in 2025 like a quarterback swap in April?
One day after former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava committed to UCLA, the Volunteers took strides to replace him with Bruins quarterback Joey Aguilar. ESPN reported Monday night that Aguilar entered the NCAA transfer portal and planned to sign with Tennessee for his final season of eligibility.
ESPN also reported that Aguilar’s name, image and likeness (NIL) deal at Tennessee would be in the $1.2 million range. Iamaleava was reportedly scheduled to make $2.4 million this year with the Vols.
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said after the Orange & White game April 12 that he would be seeking a quarterback through the NCAA transfer portal to accompany the two scholarship quarterbacks who remained in his program — redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and early enrollee George MacIntyre — following Iamaleava’s departure after he failed to attain a $4 million NIL package.
Aguilar has only been at UCLA since December, when he transferred after spending the past two seasons at Appalachian State. The 6-foot-3, 220-pounder completed 511 of 850 passes (60.1%) in his two years with the Mountaineers for 6,760 yards with 56 touchdowns and 24 interceptions.
Appalachian State went 9-5 during the 2023 season and won the Cure Bowl before slipping to 5-6 this past year.
Aguilar is from Antioch, California, and began his college career at Diablo Valley Community College northeast of San Francisco. He spent two seasons there, completing 126 of 197 passes (64.0%) for 1,446 yards with eight touchdowns and four interceptions in six games during the 2022 season while also rushing 65 times for 358 yards.
So Aguilar won’t exactly arrive at Tennessee with the same five-star fanfare as Iamaleava, who praised Vols fans in the Instagram post that announced his UCLA commitment.
“To the amazing people in Knoxville, thank you for embracing and uplifting me throughout my time there,” Iamaleava said. “I’ll be forever thankful for the support you showed me every step of the way, and I’ll always cherish the relationships I built there and the memories I created with my brothers. I believe with all my heart that I gave my all as a Volunteer, and I’m truly grateful for the time I had at UT.
“This decision was incredibly difficult, and truthfully, not something I expected to make this soon, but I trust God’s timing, and I believe he is leading me where I need to be.”
Madden Iamaleava, Nico’s younger brother, had been committed to UCLA but flipped this past December to Arkansas, where he enrolled in January. CBS reported Monday night that the younger Iamaleava plans to get back in the portal, with ESPN adding that he was likely headed to UCLA as well.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.