Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar faces a defining game against Georgia after a tumultuous offseason for the Vols.
Former Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava transferred to UCLA after a reported NIL dispute, leading the Vols to add Aguilar from the transfer portal.
A win for Aguilar and Tennessee could be seen as a victory for coaches against player empowerment, yet it also highlights the benefits of the transfer portal.
There are undeniable crossroads every college football season, defining moments where change arrives when least expected.
Welcome to Joey Aguilar’s line in the sand.
For himself and for Tennessee. And for every college football coach desperate to gain some semblance of control in a rapidly-changing sport overtaken by player empowerment.
“(Georgia’s) another team on the schedule that we have to go play,” Aguilar said last weekend after Tennessee disposed of East Tennessee State.
But it’s so much more than that. More than beating SEC king Georgia on Saturday in Knoxville, more than Tennessee making an early statement in a conference race with no clear leader.
This is the moment where Aguilar – who has thrived financially and with upward mobility through newfound player empowerment – takes a stand against the current state of college football. Or against players gaming the system.
Which, of course, he did, too.
If this is all confusing, let me take you back to April, and a mere 48 hours before the opening of the spring transfer portal. It was then that former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava decided to use leverage to gain financial advantage.
He wanted more money from Tennessee, or he was entering the transfer portal — and leaving the Vols with an inexperienced quarterback room and slim pickings from the portal. Tennessee coach Josh Heupel told Iamaleava goodbye, and said he’d find another quarterback that could win.
No player, Heupel said, is bigger than the team.
Then Iamaleava transferred to UCLA, and in true transfer portal fashion, Aguilar – who months earlier transferred from Appalachian State to UCLA – got more money to transfer again to Tennessee. Hence, the juxtaposition.
By playing well and beating Georgia, Aguilar supports the theory that no player is good enough to leverage a program. There’s always another proverbial bus arriving at the station.
But by playing well and beating Georgia, Aguilar also underscores the need and beauty of the portal: the right player with the right coach means everything.
Think about that concept. If Tennessee wins, it’s a victory for coaches in the rapidly-evolving player empowerment era. And if Tennessee wins, it’s essentially a victory for the very same thing — without the fanfare that comes with it.
Because without the transfer portal and free player movement and millions upon millions in private NIL money changing hands every season, the Vols are preparing to play the Death Star of college football with a slingshot after Iamaleava’s departure.
That brings us all the way back to Iamaleava, and a scene dripping with karma. UCLA is winless after two weeks, with ugly performances against Utah and UNLV — where Iamaleava had as many touchdown passes (two) as interceptions.
Meanwhile, there is Aguilar. He and the Vols have played an easier schedule, and Aguilar has looked the part. He’s accurate, he throws on time, he’s athletic enough to stress defenses as a willing runner.
And sonofagun, can he throw the deep ball. The same throw Iamaleava missed so many times last season, in so many moments where the offense needed it.
Aguilar is averaging 9.1 yards per attempt; Iamaleava is at 7.8 — exactly where he was last season at Tennessee when the biggest criticism was a lack of vertical throws. Aguilar is also averaging 13.7 yards per completion.
“He’s got great arm talent,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said of Aguilar. “He’s had some really well-thrown balls, a couple they’ve dropped in crucial times. A really good deep ball passer.”
But Aguilar making it look easy against Syracuse and East Tennessee State is completely different from doing it against what could be the best defense in college football at pressuring the quarterback. Don’t let Georgia’s measly three quarterback sacks fool you.
No one in college football pressures the quarterback, forces quick decisions and errant throws and game-changing mistakes, quite like the Georgia defense.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Exhibit A.
“It’s just going out there and trusting my guys,” Aguilar said. “And playing how we play.”
Sounds simple enough. Then again, it sounded simple to Quinn and Arch, too.
But there’s much more on the line this time around, at any number of levels. The game within the game could change the way coaches deal with high-value quarterbacks moving forward.
Deep into Tennessee’s rout of ETSU last weekend, Heupel called timeout to talk with freshman backup quarterback George MacIntyre. Instead of hanging on the bench or laughing with teammates long after he was replaced, Aguilar stood in the huddle with Heupel and offered encouragement for MacIntyre.
“Great teammate,” Heupel said. “That’s who he has been from the time he got here, developing relationships as he was first onboarding into our program. That’s important leadership.”
As important as the statement, the leadership, Aguilar could make for the rest of college football. No player is bigger than the team.
Unless he becomes bigger and better than the guy before him.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.