Joey Aguilar, who transferred to UCLA just a few months ago, is now headed to Tennessee to replace Nico Iamaleava. (David Jensen/Getty Images)
(David Jensen via Getty Images)
UCLA and Tennessee have pulled off a rare quarterback trade in college football.
Joey Aguilar, who transferred into UCLA just a few months ago, is now on his way out. He struck a deal to sign with Tennessee on Monday afternoon, where he’ll replace quarterback Nico Iamaleava — who just left the program for UCLA after some chaotic NIL drama in Knoxville — according to Rivals.
Iamaleava split with Tennessee ahead of the team’s spring game earlier this month over an alleged compensation dispute with the school’s NIL collective. His dad disputed that an increase in money was the center of the issue, but Iamaleava didn’t show up to team activities the day before the spring game and then the team announced soon after that he was no longer with them.
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“There’s no one that’s bigger than the Power T,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said after the spring game. “And that includes me.”
Then, on Sunday, Iamaleava officially announced that he was transferring to UCLA, where he’ll presumably be the starting quarterback this fall. Iamaleava went 213-of-334 for 2,616 passing yards with 19 touchdowns and five interceptions last season while leading the Volunteers to the College Football Playoff. They fell in a blowout to Ohio State in the first round, though, and Iamaleava didn’t throw a single touchdown in the loss.
With Iamaleava’s arrival in Southern California, that left UCLA’s already packed quarterbacks room scrambling. Aguilar, who transferred to UCLA just a few months ago from Appalachian State, told ESPN on Monday morning that he planned to enter the transfer portal again. Then, just a few hours later, he struck a deal with Tennessee.
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Aguilar was poised to take over as the Bruins’ starter this fall, which will be his final season of eligibility. He threw for 3,003 yards, which marked his second consecutive 3,000-yard season, and had 23 touchdowns with 14 interceptions with the Mountaineers last season. They went just 5-6.
Though specifics of Aguilar’s deal are not yet known, he is expected to earn significantly less — more than $1 million less — than the $2.4 million Iamaleava was earning at Tennessee, according to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger. Iamaleava’s new deal at UCLA is also not expected to match his pay at Tennessee, either.
But, after a chaotic exit by their last starting quarterback, Huepel and the Vols are back to normal. They have their new quarterback.
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