Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar suing NCAA over eligibility

Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Joey Aguilar wants to keep playing college football.

He wants to keep playing college football so bad that he's reportedly suing the NCAA in an effort to get one more season of eligibility.

This is according to a report from Adam Sparks of The Knoxville News Sentinel, which cites Aguilar’s complaint.

“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,” the complaint stated.

Aguilar transferred to Tennessee from Appalachian State (via UCLA, it's a long story). He played two seasons for the Mountaineers, but before that, he had a bit of a windy road.

He redshirted in 2019 at City College of San Francisco and then did not play in 2020 because the season was canceled due to COVID-19. He then played at Diablo Valley College in 2021 and 2022 before making it to Division I ball in 2023 at Appalachian State.

Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar's argument

Aguilar's argument is basically that those early JUCO seasons shouldn't count against his eligibility. He's undoubtedly using the lawsuit filed by Diego Pavia of Vanderbilt, which claimed that JUCO years counting toward NCAA eligibility violate antitrust law, as a guide for that decision. 

"If the Court granted Aguilar relief from the NCAA's JUCO rule in the near term, Tennessee has a spot for him on the roster and would welcome him back," the complaint says. "His compensation for playing college football in 2026 would be approximately $2 million."

Tennessee went 8-5 last season with Aguilar at quarterback. He notched 3,565 yards and 24 touchdowns compared to 10 interceptions, with four more touchdowns added on the ground.