There were a lot of eyes on the quarterback situations for the Tennessee Vols and the UCLA Bruins this past weekend.

That’s because of the de facto quarterback trade that went down between the two programs during the offseason.

Nico Iamaleava transferred from Tennessee to UCLA in April. That move opened the door for Joey Aguilar to transfer from UCLA to Tennessee.

Aguilar led Tennessee to a 45-26 win against Syracuse. He passed for 247 yards and three touchdowns in his first start for the Vols.

Iamaleava, meanwhile, passed for 136 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in UCLA’s 43-10 loss to Utah.

Former Florida Gators head coach Steve Spurrier shared his thoughts on both quarterbacks during his weekly appearance on Another Dooley Noted Podcast on Monday.

“Aguilar at Tennessee, (ESPN analyst and former Florida WR) Chris Doering has already said he’s better than Nico,” said Spurrier.

“I’m watching (UCLA vs Utah) and I’m like, this is unbelievable how bad Iamaleava is,” added show host Pat Dooley. “He just couldn’t do anything right”.

“He (Iamaleava) had some so-so games really at Tennessee,” noted Spurrier. “But this Aguilar kid seems to be a good teammate. So we’ll see how it plays out in the coming weeks.”

It’s just one game, but so far, it looks like Tennessee won the quarterback trade with UCLA.

Aguilar and the Vols get a snoozer in Week 2 against East Tennessee State, while Iamaleava and the Bruins will head to Nevada for a matchup against Dan Mullen and UNLV.

Tennessee Volunteers News

New report reveals how big of an NIL raise the Tennessee Vols were willing to give Nico Iamaleava before the QB transferred to UCLA

UCLA Bruins quarterback Nico Iamaleava will earn around $1.2 million in 2025, according to a recent report from On3’s Pete Nakos. That’s half of what Iamaleava was expected to earn had he stayed at Tennessee for the 2025 season. He was reportedly going to earn around $2.4 million with the Vols as a redshirt sophomore […]

Zach Ragan