Tennessee's starters in 2023 and 2024 -- Joe Milton and Iamaleava, respectively -- were both rather thin on playing time when they took the offense's reins. There's some natural growing pains with that level of inexperience. Aguilar shouldn't have that problem.

What does the decision to start Tennessee football quarterback Joey Aguilar in week one mean for the Tennessee Volunteers?

Aguilar started his career being named the Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year in 2023. He ended that season with MVP honors of the Cure Bowl, where he threw for 211 yards and rushed for a touchdown in a win over Miami (OH). In 2024, he was an All-Sun Belt honorable mention after starting 11 games.

Tennessee announced on Sunday that Joey Aguilar will be the starting quarterback to open the 2025 season. Aguilar, who spent the last two seasons at Appalachian State, succeeds Nico Iamaleava following Iamaleava's transfer to UCLA. He beat out redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger to become QB1.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - One day after Joey Aguilar was announced as Tennessee’s starting quarterback, WVLT caught up with Volquest’s Brent Hubbs to dive deeper into that decision. Hubbs was the first to report that Aguilar had been named the starter and told WVLT when he believes that decision was made internally.

A look at Tennessee's predicted win total now that quarterback Joey Aguilar has been named the starter. The Tennessee Volunteers officially named Joey Aguilar

The Nico Iamaleava NIL escapade at Tennessee ended up in, basically, a trade. Iamaleava left the program over a monetary dispute. He transferred to UCLA. And Aguilar transferred from UCLA to Tennessee.