Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar will lead the Volunteers’ offense when it steps onto the field on Aug. 30 in the season-opening contest against Syracuse from Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. It’s no secret that he’s a transfer quarterback, as he spent the last two seasons as the starter for the App State Mountaineers.
But Aguilar’s journey is much more than that.
Aguilar’s story began in Antioch, CA, playing high school ball for Freedom High School. He threw for 5,575 yards and 59 touchdowns in his final two prep seasons and was named a First Team All-Bay 6 selection two years in a row. But despite the success that he had on the field, he didn’t have any scholarship offers to play college football.
Aguilar ended up going the JUCO route. He redshirted his true freshman season at City College of San Francisco before transferring to Diablo Valley before the 2020 season. The Diablo Valley Vikings did not play in 2020 due to COVID, but Aguilar took over as their starting quarterback in 2021 and 2022 after winning a quarterback battle halfway through the 2021 season.
But before he even set foot on the JUCO route, the 6-foot-3 quarterback was exploring other options. The main thing that was on his mind was the humble profession of being a firefighter.
“Before I went JUCO, I wanted to be a fireman,” Aguilar said to the Tennessee press on Wednesday, recalling his journey to Rocky Top. “So I was like, I might as well start. COVID happened and football was kind of done in the JUCO level. So I was like, if I’m going to do that, I might as well just start my career, start taking classes for that.”
Aguilar persevered, though. He stuck with football through the cancelled COVID season and continued to play with the Vikings. Aguilar was entrenched in a quarterback battle during the 2021 season and did not begin the season as the starter. He did end up winning the job halfway through the season.
Aguilar was primed for another season with the Vikings in 2022 and was the starter for the first two games of the season. An injury struck early, though, forcing him to miss three games while sidelined. Aguilar continued to fight. He worked his way back from injury and ended up starting the final stretch of the season.
Aguilar’s time with Diablo Valley eventually earned him an opportunity to transfer to App State and keep playing football at a higher level. He threw for 6,760 yards and 56 touchdowns in his two seasons with the Mountaineers and was named the 2023 Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year during his first season with the program.
After two seasons in Boone, NC, Aguilar transferred to UCLA to continue his rise in college football this past December. He went through spring camp with the Bruins, but the arrival of former Tennessee transfer quarterback Nico Iamaleava threw a wrench in things for his final season of college ball. Aguilar wound up entering the transfer portal again, but things were different this time around. Tennessee was in need of a veteran quarterback to supplement its now-young quarterback room, and Aguilar was a match.
He transferred to Rocky Top in April, went to work through the summer and the fall, and earned the starting nod this past Sunday evening.
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Aguilar’s desire to become a firefighter when his football future was uncertain says a lot about his character and resolve, but none of it is unexpected in the short time that the Tennessee media has gotten to know him. His coaches and teammates have raved about his mentality and drive, both on and off the field. Tennessee senior tight end Miles Kitselman even went so far as to say that Aguilar jumped onto his wedding invite list after only a few weeks of knowing each other.
Aguilar wouldn’t be Tennessee’s starting quarterback this season if he hadn’t persevered through the hardships of the COVID-cancelled season in 2020, nor would he have gone on to set multiple records during his two years at App State. However, fortunately for Tennessee fans, he had strong-willed people in his corner all those years ago, encouraging him to persevere.
“Yeah, it’s crazy,” Aguilar said on Tuesday. “Because before I went JUCO, I wanted to be a fireman. So I was like, I might as well start. COVID happened and football was kind of done in the JUCO level. So I was like, if I’m going to do that, I might as well just start my career, start taking classes for that. And then when football came back around, came back into it. Just to see how my life shifted in just a short time of just people, saying, like, yo, come play, just one more time. Give it one more shot. So it’s kind of crazy to see how.”
While his opportunity with Tennessee hasn’t actually begun on the game field just yet, Aguilar says that his journey through JUCO and App State has helped him grow and mature, both as a player and a person.
“I would say my life growing up through JUCO definitely helped shape who I was,” Aguilar said on Tuesday about his transfer to UCLA if he didn’t play JUCO. “I was somewhat of a different person. Probably would have had a different approach. Not sure how I would have approached that situation if it happened, but I would say JUCO and just the transition to App State and adjusting into that environment helped me, just see things through easier.”
Aguilar has seen a lot of different football environments throughout his career, but none like Neyland Stadium on a Saturday in the fall. It won’t be long until he gets to check something else off the bucket list.
“You know, I’m excited,” Aguilar said about the upcoming season. “I’m especially excited to run out that T, though. And I haven’t been to a Tennessee game in my life, so that’s one check mark I can mark off my list.”
