UCLA head coach Deshaun Foster reportedly wasn't 'forthcoming' with Joey Aguilar during the Nico Iamaleava transfer saga

When Nico Iamaleava left the Tennessee Vols for the UCLA Bruins near the end of spring practice, no one’s world was turned more upside down than Joey Aguilar’s. 

Aguilar was set to be the Bruins' starting quarterback in 2025. But when Iamaleava decided to transfer to UCLA, it knocked Aguilar out of that role. 

Shortly after Iamaleava transferred to UCLA, Aguilar transferred to Tennessee. 

The whole process, unsurprisingly, was quite chaotic for Aguilar. That's in part because UCLA head coach Deshaun Foster reportedly wasn't very "forthcoming" with Aguilar during the Iamaleava saga. 

“It was a little unsettling because we were finding out information through the media,” said Danny Hernandez, Aguilar’s private quarterbacks coach, to The Athletic. “DeShaun Foster wasn’t very forthcoming....(UCLA offensive coordinator) Tino Sunseri was in the dark on a lot of stuff...It felt like nobody knew what was going on and nobody was talking. It just really seemed like a bad situation.”

Foster disputes that claim from Hernandez, telling the Athletic, “We talked to Joey before it went public, so he heard it from us before he heard it from the media or anything.”

Aguilar ended up committing to Tennessee after a "super real and super genuine" conversation with head coach Josh Heupel, offensive coordinator Joey Halzle, and advanced scout Billy High. 

The former UCLA quarterback is battling redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and true freshman George MacIntyre for the starting job at Tennessee. That battle will kick into high gear on July 30 when fall camp gets underway for the Volunteers.