Despite an ongoing eligibility debate, quarterback Joey Aguilar prioritizes the Music City Bowl, focusing on the game, not outside noise.
Joey Aguilar has been around the world of college football longer than most. His senior season with the Vols marks his seventh official season of playing college ball at some level.
With no offers coming out of high school in 2019, Aguilar faced a tough decision, but ultimately decided to enroll at City College of San Francisco and redshirt as a true freshman. His 2020 season was completely canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.
Aguilar made the move to a junior college the next season in 2021, joining Diablo Valley.
Aguilar’s first five games were spent on the bench before beating out Dylann Graham for the starting role. Aguilar’s second season was limited due to an injury, but he still made noise in his limited time.
It was enough noise to earn Aguiar an opportunity to make the move to the NCAA and join Appalachian State in 2023. He originally was the team’s backup before the starting quarterback went down with a Week 1 injury.
Aguilar played two seasons at Appalachian State, which under normal NCAA rules would have put him at the end of his eligibility after the 2024 season. However, following the court case Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia filed in 2024, the NCAA issued a waiver granting former junior college players an additional year of eligibility.
Enter Tennessee, Aguilar’s next and final stop in his long-winded collegiate career, yet there remain a few extra details involving Aguilar’s efforts to grab another season of eligibility.
While the argument for Aguilar remains removing years of JUCO eligibility due to the leagues not being under the same Name, Image and Likeness rules which limited his ability to make money, the quarterback right now doesn’t seem to be focused on the extra things.
“Not much,” Aguilar said Tuesday when asked about the distractions. “My answer is still my answer, just focus on the season and pursue what I want to pursue afterwards.”
In the original court argument for Pavia last season, he earned another year of eligibility due to his JUCO seasons, as did Aguilar. Yet if the rules sustained and removed the junior college seasons, Aguilar would have one year remaining.
Now that the extra details are for higher-paid officials, it seems Aguilar understands that, too, based on his interviews this week.
Just like last season, though, Aguilar awaits a decision on eligibility while possibly playing his final collegiate game.
“To a certain extent (it feels the same),” Aguilar said, “but obviously I’m preparing for a bowl game, so my focus is on that and getting ready for Illinois.”
Aguilar statistically had maybe his most impressive season yet. Through 12 games started, he posted 3,444 total yards, which averaged to 287.0, leading the SEC in total passing yards.
Throwing 24 touchdowns to just 10 interceptions, Aguilar made a positive impact in his time with the Vols. He served as a very nice safety blanket after the sudden departure of Nico Iamaleava last offseason.
“It’s a game. You know, I’m blessed to go out there and play it one more time and if I’m like, if it’s my last game or not, you know, I’m excited,” Aguilar said. “And to go out there with this team one more time, grateful for the coaches and the program, the community for accepting me this year and just one more time to go out there and show up.”
The Vols take on Illinois in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30. Kickoff is at 5:30 p.m. (EST).
There was no question about whether the quarterback, Aguilar, was going to opt out of the bowl game, however.
“Nah, I mean, it’s one more opportunity to play with the guys,” Aguilar said. “So might as well go play, you know.”