Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar has filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in Knox County, the Knoxville News Sentinel’s Adam Sparks first reported Monday. It’s a new development in Aguilar’s quest to gain an additional year of eligibility.
The news comes shortly after Aguilar removed himself from the Diego Pavia lawsuit and hired Cam Norris to represent him. Pavia’s lawsuit seeks to change NCAA eligibility rules, keeping the college sports governing body from counting junior college seasons against student-athletes.
“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 Sparks.
A judge in the 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.
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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 started all 13 games during Tennessee football’s 8-5 season, completing 272-of-404 passes for 3,565 yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He added 101 yards and four rushing touchdowns.
The lawsuit comes after Tennessee struck out on potential transfer portal quarterback targets. 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.
