There are some Tennessee fans that are complaining about Josh Heupel's latest move and it's absolutely absurd
Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Vols landed a quarterback in the transfer portal on Monday evening, securing a commitment from UCLA Bruins transfer quarterback Joey Aguilar. And believe it or not, I've already seen a litany of complaints from (some) Tennessee fans. The Vols were in need of a quarterback after the unexpected departure of […]
Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Vols landed a quarterback in the transfer portal on Monday evening, securing a commitment from UCLA Bruins transfer quarterback Joey Aguilar.
And believe it or not, I've already seen a litany of complaints from (some) Tennessee fans.
The Vols were in need of a quarterback after the unexpected departure of Nico Iamaleava earlier this month (who, ironically, is heading to UCLA, which pushed Aguilar to the portal). The UT fans who are complaining were apparently expecting Heupel and Tennessee's NIL collective to land a "bigger" name than Aguilar.
I've seen some fans suggest that Tennessee "whiffed" or "missed" on adding a quarterback because they landed a somewhat unheralded player in Aguilar.
Let me just say, I'm flabbergasted by that reaction.
Tennessee was in a tough spot. There isn't a single "star" quarterback that was going to leave their situation to join a new program in April. That was never a realistic scenario. And there was no amount of (reasonable) money that was going to entice an elite quarterback to make that move.
The Vols were put in an impossible situation with Iamaleava's departure. There was absolutely no picture perfect scenario that was viable for the Vols because of the timing. Had this went down in December, the circumstances would be different and the Vols could've set their sights higher. But because of the timing, this was the best possible outcome for Tennessee.
As it stands, the Vols will likely move forward with an open quarterback competition this fall between Aguilar, redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger, and true freshman George MacIntyre.
It's entirely possible that Merklinger emerges as the winner of that battle (in fact, at this point that's kind of what I expect to happen). Maybe Merklinger ends up being a revelation for the Vols. Or maybe Aguilar instantly excels in Heupel's offense and becomes a star. No one can predict with any accuracy how things will play out this fall (which is what makes the situation at Tennessee so compelling…personally, I can't wait to see how things play out).
Anyone that thinks Heupel should be criticized because he didn't land a top 10 quarterback in late April is living in a fantasy world.
Heupel did the absolute best he could in this situation. And who knows, maybe this entire situation ends up being the best thing that could've happened for the Vols this offseason. After all, no one expected Josh Dobbs or Hendon Hooker to be a star players at Tennessee…..
‘There’s more to this story than just money’ – Insider says Nico Iamaleava’s departure was related to Tennessee’s offensive style
There’s always more to the story
