Joey Aguilar’s transition to Tennessee could be receiving a boost.
According to a report from ESPN’s Chris Low on Thursday evening, the former Appalachian State/UCLA quarterback could potentially join the Tennessee program “earlier than expected.” While this is good news for UT’s team on its own, it also follows discussion earlier this week that Aguilar could have his arrival to Rocky Top delayed to mid-June due to UCLA’s academic quarters system.
“Looks like Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar could join the team earlier than expected,” Low posted on Thursday evening. “If he earns his degree at App. State, where he continued to take online classes after transferring to UCLA, he could be on campus at Tennessee in mid to late May. UCLA’s classes extend into June.”
Getting Aguilar on campus in June wouldn’t be the end of the world, but the clock is ticking after the completion of spring training camp in mid-April. Expediting Aguilar’s arrival on campus as early as possible would help settle the transfer quarterback into Knoxville, both in terms of the offense and his new home.
More from RTI: Five Things To Know About New Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar
Tennessee is in a unique spot with fall camp doubling as the arena for the Vols’ true quarterback battle. After Tennessee’s divorce from Nico Iamaleava prior to the spring game, head coach Josh Heupel gave the impression that they would be buyers in the spring portal window. Tennessee has rising redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and early enrollee George MacIntyre, but adding Aguilar gives Heupel a veteran quarterback to compete for the starting role this fall.
After Iamaleava announced his transfer to UCLA last weekend, Bruins quarterback Joey Aguilar was in a bit of a bind. Aguilar had just transferred to UCLA from App State for his final season, but Iamaleava’s arrival clearly closed the runway that he was looking to take off from. With Tennessee needing a quarterback and Aguilar looking for a new home, it was a match that made sense.
Joey Aguilar’s transfer to Tennessee broke on April 21.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee football offseason news and coverage.
