Tennessee OC reveals what he's looking for in new starting QB

The Tennessee Volunteers are heading into the 2025 season with a new starting quarterback. 

That wasn't the plan after the 2024 season ended with a College Football Playoff loss, but Nico Iamaleava's shocking transfer to UCLA put things in flux, and the Volunteers had to quickly adjust.

The Vols haven't named a starting quarterback yet as they look to kick off camp, but there is an overwhelming favorite for the job. That would be former Appalachian State quarterback Joey Aguilar, who ironically transferred to UCLA before Iamaleava ended up in Southern California. Aguilar hit the transfer portal soon after Iamaleava joined the Bruins, and he found himself at Tennessee in what was essentially a quarterback swap.

The issue for Tennessee is that Aguilar hasn't even taken an official snap yet for the Vols, so he's going to have to earn the job in camp. He also does have competition in redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and true freshman George MacIntyre, a former four-star recruit.

Technically, anybody could win the starting job in camp. Even though it is up in the air, offensive coordinator Joey Halzle revealed at Tennessee's media day what he's looking for in the Vols' next starter.

The big thing is he doesn't want the competition in camp to hinder anyone's play on the field.

“First and foremost, you’ve got to play this game in this offense with an aggressive nature. I think a lot of times, the mistake quarterbacks make in a competition is they try not to lose it. They try just not to make a mistake. We want out guy to walk the line between being extremely aggressive but not reckless at all,” Halzle said (h/t On3). “Reckless is just throwing a ball up for grabs. Aggressive is driving a ball into a tight window. So, we want our guy to be aggressive, we want him to be smart, and we want him to operate this offense.”

The reason Aguilar is the favorite to win the starting job is because of his experience as well as his dual-threat abilities. 

Over the last two seasons at Appalachian State, he threw for 6,760 yards and 56 touchdowns. He also rushed for 456 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

He brings a ton to the table for Tennessee, but ultimately Aguilar is going to have to prove to Halzle and head coach Josh Heupel that not only does he have the talent, but he has command of the offense.

That's what Halzle and the coaching staff will be looking for in camp.

“It’s not just about who throws the ball the furthest or the hardest. It’s about who can operate this offense that when we take the field, he gives us a chance to win,” Halzle said. “Whether that’s them carrying the football, them getting to their check downs and then making big plays down the field. However it presents to that individual’s skill set, it’s them doing that at an extremely high level to where we say that’s the guy that gives us the best chance to be up plus-1 at the end of a ballgame.”