Incoming Tennessee football quarterback Joey Aguilar is switching up his number with the Vols.
After wearing No. 4 with Appalachian State, he is now going to wear No. 6 with Tennessee. No. 4 is currently claimed by sophomore wide receiver Mike Matthews, who is making the switch from No. 10. He is one of a long list of players to switch numbers for this season.
No. 6 was most recently worn by star UT running back Dylan Sampson. Other notable players to wear it have been Byron Young and Alvin Kamara in just the past 10 seasons.
This will be the first time in his career that Aguilar will wear No. 6. Prior to App State, Aguilar wore No. 16 at both Diablo Valley College and Freedom High School. He is unable to wear his old No. 16 due to it being retired by the program for the legendary quarterback Peyton Manning.
Aguilar joins a quarterback room with three other players. Redshirt-freshman Jake Merklinger is sticking with No. 12 this season while true freshman George MacIntyre is staying with his spring number of No. 15. The Vols also add walk-on freshman quarterback Mason Phillips to the room this fall, who will wear No. 13.
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Aguilar joins Tennessee with the expectation to compete with Merklinger and MacIntyre for the starting quarterback job. Initial expectations were that Nico Iamaleava would slide back into his starting role, but reported NIL negotiations led to a fallout between the sides. As a result, Iamaleava left in a messy transfer scenario and ended up at UCLA.
With Aguilar transferring from App State to UCLA in the winter transfer window, he saw his projected starting job with the Bruins usurped from him. He would enter the spring window, as well, and find his way to Knoxville to replace Iamaleava.
Now, after spending spring camp learning a new offense, he is being asked to do it all over. He brings the most experience to the room of signal callers, but doesn’t have a spring session under his belt with Josh Heupel and company.
Aguilar went into the recent 2024 season with high expectations with the Mountaineers. After a dominant showing the year prior, he threw for 3,003 yards on a 56% completion rate. He tossed 23 touchdowns but turned the ball over with 14 interceptions in just 11 games. On the ground, he added 207 yards and two touchdowns on 59 attempts.
In 2023, Aguilar torched the App State record books. He set new program-best marks for a single season in passing yards (3,757), passing touchdowns (33), total offense (4,002), 200-yard passing games (13), pass completions (293) and pass attempts (460).
That year earned him Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year and Cure Bowl MVP as he steered App State to a 9-5 record, Sun Belt Championship Game appearance and bowl win over Miami (Ohio).
He began his career at the junior college level, playing at Diablo Valley for two seasons just outside San Francisco. Prior to that, he played for two years at Freedom High School in Antioch, California, where he earned First-team All-Bay 6 in both seasons.
