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Josh Heupel is putting the Nico Iamaleava saga to rest for Tennessee football.
The fourth-year Vols coach was asked about "the Nico Iamaleava situation" in a radio interview on Thursday with WGFX in Nashville. He responded in support of Tennessee's new quarterback, Joey Aguilar.
"Let's start calling it the Joey Aguilar situation," Heupel said.
REQUIRED READING: Why Josh Heupel doesn't have a general manager for Tennessee football like most SEC teams
In one of the most well-covered storylines of the spring in college football, Tennessee moved on from Iamaleava, its returning starting quarterback, amid a reported NIL contract dispute in which the two sides couldn't come to an agreement. The Vols played their annual spring game with quarterbacks Jake Merklinger and George MacIntyre instead.
Iamaleava eventually transferred to a crowded quarterback room in UCLA, where Aguilar was the projected starter after transferring from Appalachian State. Aguilar then transferred to Tennessee.
"End of the day, that's just the landscape," Heupel continued in the interview. "You're not gonna keep everybody. You got opportunities to put your roster together. Feel like we got a team that's accountable, connected, works hard, competes hard. We're built to win and we got to go earn it every single day. And we got some new pieces that we gotta get onboarded here in the course of May and that's the nature of college football."
Aguilar, who started the past two seasons at App State, passed for 3,003 yards with 23 touchdowns to 14 interceptions last season, also rushing for 207 yards with two scores. It was a step down from his production in 2023, when he threw for 3,757 yards with 33 touchdowns to 10 interceptions.
Tennessee, who fell in the first round of the College Football Playoff to eventual national champions Ohio State last season, is looking to get back to the CFP in 2025, although it'll be with a different signal caller leading the offense.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Josh Heupel: 'Let's start calling it the Joey Aguilar situation'
Continue reading...
The fourth-year Vols coach was asked about "the Nico Iamaleava situation" in a radio interview on Thursday with WGFX in Nashville. He responded in support of Tennessee's new quarterback, Joey Aguilar.
"Let's start calling it the Joey Aguilar situation," Heupel said.
REQUIRED READING: Why Josh Heupel doesn't have a general manager for Tennessee football like most SEC teams
In one of the most well-covered storylines of the spring in college football, Tennessee moved on from Iamaleava, its returning starting quarterback, amid a reported NIL contract dispute in which the two sides couldn't come to an agreement. The Vols played their annual spring game with quarterbacks Jake Merklinger and George MacIntyre instead.
Iamaleava eventually transferred to a crowded quarterback room in UCLA, where Aguilar was the projected starter after transferring from Appalachian State. Aguilar then transferred to Tennessee.
"End of the day, that's just the landscape," Heupel continued in the interview. "You're not gonna keep everybody. You got opportunities to put your roster together. Feel like we got a team that's accountable, connected, works hard, competes hard. We're built to win and we got to go earn it every single day. And we got some new pieces that we gotta get onboarded here in the course of May and that's the nature of college football."
Aguilar, who started the past two seasons at App State, passed for 3,003 yards with 23 touchdowns to 14 interceptions last season, also rushing for 207 yards with two scores. It was a step down from his production in 2023, when he threw for 3,757 yards with 33 touchdowns to 10 interceptions.
Tennessee, who fell in the first round of the College Football Playoff to eventual national champions Ohio State last season, is looking to get back to the CFP in 2025, although it'll be with a different signal caller leading the offense.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Josh Heupel: 'Let's start calling it the Joey Aguilar situation'
Continue reading...
