Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar’s pursuit of an additional year of eligibility took another turn Monday when he filed a new lawsuit against the NCAA in Knox County that would allow him to return to Tennessee for a sixth collegiate season.
According to the lawsuit, Josh Heupel and Tennessee football are holding a roster spot for Aguilar on its 2026 roster.
“If this Court grants Aguilar relief from the NCAA’s JUCO rule in the near term,” the lawsuit states. “Tennessee has a spot for him on the roster and would welcome him back.
“His compensation for playing college football in 2026 would be approximately $2 million. So by counting his JUCO years against him, the NCAA is depriving Aguilar of millions of dollars.”
Tennessee’s quarterback situation is currently dicey entering the 2026 season. The Vols were unsuccessful in their attempts to poach a high-level quarterback out of the transfer portal this offseason. Alabama’s Ty Simpson never entered the portal, instead declaring for the NFL Draft, while Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt chose LSU over Tennessee.
Josh Heupel and his staff eventually added Colorado’s Ryan Staub to the roster, but he projects as a backup. The other two quarterbacks currently on Tennessee’s roster are redshirt freshman George MacIntyre and true freshman Faizon Brandon.
Aguilar returning to Tennessee’s roster would give the Vols more experience at quarterback entering the 2026 season. It would also give the Vols the same starting quarterback in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2021-22.
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As a fifth-year senior at Tennessee in 2025, Aguilar completed 272-of-404 passes for 3,565 yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while the Vols posted an 8-5 (4-4 SEC) record. Aguilar was average over the course of the season though he played with a benign tumor on his right arm “for most of the season.” His lawsuit claims that the tumor affected his performance.
Aguilar’s lawsuit fights back against NCAA rules that count junior college seasons against a student-athlete’s NCAA eligibility.
“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,” Aguilar’s complaint states according to KNS.
A judge in the Diego Pavia case originally sided with the Vanderbilt quarterback last winter, enacting a temporary restraining order against the NCAA. In response, the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to student-athletes who previously played in junior college and ran out of eligibility during the 2024-25 athletic year.
That ruling gave Aguilar an extra-year of eligibility and eventually led to him landing at Tennessee. However, Aguilar played two seasons at Diablo Valley Community College and would have one more year of eligibility remaining if the courts again sided with him and other student-athletes versus the NCAA again.
Aguilar was originally a plaintiff in the Pavia lawsuit before separating from it last week due to the slow moving process. With Tennessee’s spring semester and winter workouts under way, Aguilar is looking for a quick decision so he can re-join the Tennessee team.
