QB Joey Aguilar Will OFFICIALLY Be A Vol Soon_ What You Need To Know...

AtoZ Sports

Lucas Panzica talks about the latest information surrounding the arrival of Vols transfer QB Joey Aguilar, who has yet to make it to Knoxville.

Transcript

00:00The college football season will be upon us in a matter of months and Tennessee has to get a new quarterback integrated.

00:06We have some new information on the timeline as to just when Joey Aguilar can officially join the Vols.

00:16Hey, Lucas Panzeca here from 104.5 The Zone and A to Z Sports.

00:20So we obviously know by now that there will be a new quarterback injected into that room at the University of Tennessee

00:26as Joey Aguilar comes over from UCLA after the messy split between Nico Iamaliava and the Vols.

00:34Well, head coach Josh Heupel has been speaking at multiple stops over the course of the last couple of weeks with the Big Orange Caravan

00:40and he has shined a little bit of a light as to when Joey Aguilar can arrive on campus officially.

00:46The former App State and UCLA quarterback cannot officially get to Knoxville until mid to late May

00:54due to some complications from the academic calendar from not one but two schools that Aguilar has now been a part of

01:00over the course of just the last few months.

01:03So, as to UCLA's academic calendar, it is a school that operates on quarters.

01:09Right now, the current quarter does not end until June 13th.

01:12Aguilar does not have to wait until June 13th.

01:15What he can do is get a waiver from UCLA to drop those classes and get out of that quarter early

01:21and instead continue taking the online classes to wrap up his degree from Appalachian State.

01:27That can finish later on this week with finals and essentially graduation from Appalachian State from Joey Aguilar.

01:35It is not until after that that he can officially arrive on campus and as we know, there is a lot to do from there.

01:42Joey Aguilar has to find a place to live.

01:44He has to tour the facility, get to know his teammates, get into the strength and conditioning program.

01:50He is, according to Josh Heupel, able to spend time on Zoom with Heupel with offensive coordinator Joey Halsley

01:57for the install, trying to get to know the offense and the playbook.

02:01But Tennessee assistant coaches are on the road recruiting right now, including offensive coordinator Joey Halsley,

02:07who does not have all day to sit down with Joey Aguilar on a day-to-day basis.

02:12All this to say, the next month or so, the next really two to three months, are going to be an absolute whirlwind

02:19for the former App State, UCLA, and now Tennessee quarterback, Joey Aguilar.

02:24As he comes in, maybe as the favorite to win the job, just given his experience,

02:29but there's no question, the leg up that George McIntyre and Jake Merklinger have on Aguilar

02:34is their time spent in the system.

02:36And McIntyre has a spring practice under his belt as an early enrollee.

02:42Jake Merklinger, obviously, has had two spring practices and an entire season with this offense.

02:47As we've talked about before, it is not unprecedented for a quarterback to join Tennessee

02:52after spring practice in that spring portal window and win the starting job.

02:57It happened with Joe Milton before Josh Heupel's first season as the head coach.

03:02It can absolutely be done, but it will be up to Joey Aguilar to be able to handle everything

03:07that comes at him over the course of the next two months.

03:11If Tennessee had it their way, Aguilar would be on campus right now, getting his feet under him.

03:17But some things are just out of their control at the moment.

03:20He has to wrap up everything from a logistical standpoint academically with both UCLA and Appalachian

03:26State before he can even officially move to Knoxville, enroll at UT, and become a part of the program.

03:33But we do know that there's an uphill climb, but Joey Aguilar has the experience under his belt

03:39if he can get this offense within his grasp to win the starting job, especially considering

03:45the amount of NIL money that Tennessee is paying the former App State and UCLA quarterback.

03:50So there's no doubt it's going to be a busy, busy summer for Joey Aguilar,

03:54but it looks like we're a matter of weeks away from him officially getting to Rocky Top.

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