University of Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar has been granted a temporary restraining order against NCAA eligibility rules and will now be allowed to begin winter workouts with the team, pending the hearing of a lawsuit he filed last week against the college sports sanctioning body.
Aguilar is seeking a sixth year of college eligibility, having played three seasons of NCAA Division I football after two in junior college. His hearing is set for Feb. 13 in front of Knox County Chancery Court judge Chris Heagerty.
Wednesday’s ruling, also by Heagerty, is the first step toward a potential return to play a second season for the Volunteers this year, and it states in part: “Based upon the motion, its attachments, and the verified complaint, the Court finds that Plaintiff has demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of his claim that the NCAA’s “JUCO rule” violates the Tennessee Trade Practices Act. Immediate and irreparable injury will result to Plaintiff if a restraining order is not issued. Every day that Aguilar’s future remains uncertain leaves him unable to prepare for the next step of his career. The requested relief runs only to Aguilar. And the NCAA suffers no harm if Aguilar can play NCAA football for a fourth full season.”
(SIGN UP: Get the daily sports newsletter in your email box by clicking here)
Aguilar’s lawsuit seeks to alter existing rules so that seasons spent in junior college will no longer count toward a player’s eligibility and that only seasons spent at NCAA institutions will count.
Aguilar’s complaint states: “After a breakout season as the Volunteers’ quarterback in 2025, the NCAA is blocking Aguilar from playing a fourth year of Division I football — depriving Tennessee of a gifted quarterback and robbing Aguilar of millions in compensation.”
According to the filing, Aguilar made more than $1 million this past season and that “his compensation for playing college football in 2026 would be approximately $2 million.” The filing adds that Tennessee has a roster spot available for Aguilar, as well as access to name, image and likeness revenue.
The NCAA released a statement Wednesday afternoon in response to the decision, stating: “This outcome — after the plaintiff withdrew from a federal lawsuit and separately filed a lawsuit in state court with the exact same facts — illustrates the impossible situation created by differing court decisions that serve to undermine the rules agreed to by the same NCAA members who later challenge them in court. We will continue to defend the NCAA’s eligibility rules against repeated attempts to rob high school students of the opportunity to compete in college and experience the life-changing opportunities only college sports can create.”
(READ MORE: Vols starter Aguilar nearly traded football for firefighting)
The Knoxville News-Sentinel reported that Aguilar is already enrolled in classes at the university.
The 6-foot-3, 225-pounder from Antioch, California, helped the Vols to an 8-5 record this past fall, which included the program’s first win at Florida since 2003.
Aguilar first joined a college football program in the fall semester of 2019 at City College of San Francisco, where he never took a snap. He redshirted that season and did not play the following year due to the junior-college season across the nation being canceled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
His career continued just outside San Francisco at Diablo Valley College, where he played the 2021-22 seasons before moving on to the NCAA Division I level at Appalachian State. He started 24 games for the Mountaineers across the 2023-24 seasons before transferring to UCLA and taking part in spring practices with the Bruins in 2025. However, when quarterback Nico Iamaleava left the Vols last April near the end of their spring practices and later transferred to UCLA, Aguilar then transferred to Tennessee.
With the Vols last season, Aguilar completed 272 of 404 passes (67.3%) for 3,565 yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. His 274.2 passing yards per game led the Southeastern Conference and ranked 13th nationally, and his efficiency rating of 156.1 was 15th in the country and second in the SEC behind Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia.
The NFL Network reported that Aguilar underwent surgery on Jan. 2 to remove a benign tumor in his arm.
In addition to Aguilar at quarterback, the Vols return George MacIntyre, who redshirted this past season as a freshman, and they signed Faizon Brandon, a five-star recruit from Greensboro, North Carolina, who has enrolled early. They also acquired Colorado transfer Ryan Staub, who entered the NCAA portal during the January window.
Tennessee is expected to begin spring practices in mid-March as Josh Heupel prepares for his sixth season as head coach in Knoxville.
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com.