'A little underwhelmed when I saw him live' - Coaches give honest opinions on UCLA's Nico Iamaleava and Tennessee's Joey Aguilar

There will be plenty of eyes on UCLA Bruins quarterback Nico Iamaleava and Tennessee Vols quarterback Joey Aguilar this fall. 

Iamaleava spent the first two seasons of his career at Tennessee before surprisingly transferring to UCLA in April. 

Aguilar, meanwhile, was set to be the starting quarterback at UCLA in 2025 (after spending the last two seasons at Appalachian State) before Iamaleava's arrival essentially pushed him out of that role. 

Instead of sticking around at UCLA to serve as a backup, Aguilar transferred to Tennessee where he'll compete with redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and true freshman George MacIntyre for the starting quarterback job. 

The Athletic recently spoke to various coaches and personnel staffers about each quarterback in college football. 

Those anonymous coaches and personnel staffers shared some honest opinions on Iamaleava and Aguilar. 

"Extremely athletic, a better runner than people give him credit for," said an SEC assistant coach about Iamaleava. "Cannon for an arm, accurate, capable of making every throw."

“If he can put it all together, he ain’t far away from being elite,” added a coach who faced Iamaleava last season. “He’s got all the tools and talent, but I was a little underwhelmed when I saw him live.”

"He's got a cannon, so that will fit that offense perfectly with how many deep shots they take," said a former G5 recruiting director about Aguilar. "And he's a better runner than you think."

We'll see how things pan out for both players this fall. There will certainly be plenty of intrigue surrounding each quarterback throughout the 2025 season.