The Tennessee Volunteers got off to a great start in college football defeating the Syracuse Orange 45-26. It what was a much-needed victory to kickoff Joey Aguilar’s career in Knoxville, and move on from Nico Iamaleava’s drama in the offseason. After the game, the Vols’ starting quarterback spoke on his reception at his new school.
As the Volunteers made their season debut on August 30 against the Orange, it was time for Aguilar to rise to the occasion and help close the open wound left by Iamaleava’s rushed departure. Aguilar did just that, and afterwards spoke on his arrival after Iamaleava exited the program.
“Everybody welcomed me in pretty fairly when I got here,” Aguilar said during an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show. “I gravitated towards Miles Kitselman pretty quick. He was a big part of my transition ,making it easier. He kind of came in, took me in pretty quick, build a connection like that.
“Chris [Brazzell II], Mike [Matthews], Braylon [Staley], all of them, O-linemen — it made it easy. It felt like I’ve been here for a while, especially with the players and coaches just being so welcoming when I got here. It just felt like it was right.”
Nico Iamaleava at Rose Bowl Stadium on August 30, 2025 in Pasadena, California.
Quick refreshing
The football program in Knoxville didn’t enjoy the calmest of springs and summers this past year. Following Tennessee’s playoff berth in the 2024 NCAA season, Iamaleava shocked many entering the transfer portal and moving out to the UCLA Bruins. The young signal-caller was expected to be a star in town, but he ultimately couldn’t look past disagreements with the school on his NIL value.
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Iamaleava’s move to UCLA set off a domino effect, ultimately prompting the Bruins’ newest transfer, Aguilar, to change course and enroll at the University of Tennessee. Fans across college football were left speechless, as the two schools had virtually pulled off a trade. When looking at Aguilar and Iamaleava, it’s impossible not to think about the wild events that led to them being where they currently are. However, Aguilar has no interest listening to the outside noise.
“All the outside noise is just rat poison,” Aguilar told media during the postgame press conference. “We only focus about who’s in the building and the team we’ve got. So, we’ve got to go back, execute, dial in on everything we got. Everything outside is rat poison, and we got to focus on ourselves.”
Joey Aguilar warming up at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
Old manners
Aguilar had played the first two seasons of his college football career with the Appalachian State Mountaineers. And even though he planned to transfer to UCLA before Iamaleava changed his plans, he still isn’t letting his new surroundings change his old customs. Thus, he installed a new tradition in Knoxville.
“There was a tradition at App State of just taking my teammates out to eat. So I kind of wanted to bring that here,” Aguilar stated. “Just going out to eat and just having a fun time, getting outside of football, and just trying to build a connection. Learn everybody’s story, and kind of get an understanding of how they got here, what’s their why, and just build a relationship like that.“
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So far, it looks like getting to know his teammates off the field has paid off for Aguilar and the Volunteers. Against Syracuse, the offense exploded for 493 total yards and 5 touchdowns, with the QB throwing for 3 of them. Tennessee will vie to keep it rolling as they host the ETSU Buccaneers (an FCS team) on September 6.
