Tennessee football starting quarterback Joey Aguilar had a successful surgery to remove a benign tumor that pushed on his biceps tendon and labrum on Friday morning, according to a report from Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Rapaport noted that the tumor caused ‘weakness and pain.’
The recovery timeline for Aguilar is projected to be eight weeks, as well. He is currently out of eligibility at the college level, but was fighting to get an additional year due to time spent at the junior college ranks. So far, there is no indication he’ll be granted any eligibility, though.
Aguilar spent one season at Tennessee after two in junior college, two at Appalachian State and a spring camp at UCLA. He left the Bruins to replace Nico Iamaleava in Knoxville after Iamaleava transferred in to UCLA following spring practice at UT.
This season, Aguilar produced 3,565 passing yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also ran for four touchdowns and 101 yards. The Vols finished 8-5 (4-4 SEC) with a loss to Illinois in the Music City Bowl.
University of Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar had successful surgery today to remove a benign tumor that has been pushing on his biceps tendon and labrum, causing weakness and pain, sources say.
Aguilar kept the situation quiet, but handled it today. Full recovery in 8 weeks. pic.twitter.com/tvhpNk1hmJ
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 2, 2026
More From RTI: Tennessee Football Reportedly ‘A School to Watch’ for Elite Penn State Safety Transfer
“I just can’t thank Coach, teammates enough for believing in me and trusting me to lead this team,” Aguilar said after the Music City Bowl loss to Illinois. “Obviously, there’s a lot I think I could have done better, but it’s been a great year in this short amount of time I’ve been here. Made a lot of relationships with my teammates and coaches that’ll last longer than a 12-game season. It goes beyond sports, but just super grateful for these guys for believing in me and trusting me to go out there and lead them.”
Tennessee will now likely be in the market for a new quarterback, assuming Aguilar remains ineligible to return. The Vols lost backup, Jake Merklinger, to the transfer portal already, but should return rising redshirt freshman George MacIntyre. Tennessee will also bring in five-star Faizon Brandon for his true freshman year.
The Vols are also considered one of the many teams that are in the mix for a top transfer quarterback. However, UT has not been strongly tied to many yet, with a lot of top options projected to end up elsewhere at this point.
