Is Joey Aguilar guaranteed to be Tennessee’s starting QB if he gets another season of eligibility, or will he have to win the job

There’s a chance that Joey Aguilar could return as the Tennessee Vols’ starting quarterback in 2026.

Zach Ragan — Tennessee Volunteers News Writer
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It’s starting to feel like there’s a real possibility that Joey Aguilar will be back with the Tennessee Vols in 2026.

Aguilar reportedly filed a lawsuit against the NCAA last week in Knox County. The California native is seeking an additional season of eligibility.

There’s optimism that Aguilar will win the case, but it should still be viewed as a coin flip.

Is Joey Aguilar guaranteed to be Tennessee’s starting QB if he gets another season of eligibility?

The assumption from many is that Aguilar will automatically return to his role as Tennessee’s starting quarterback if he wins the lawsuit.

But is that a fair assumption to make? After all, the Vols have a couple of high upside options in George MacIntyre and Faizon Brandon. Aguilar has a major edge in experience, but MacIntyre and Brandon may have the edge in talent.

VolQuest’s Austin Price weighed in on that very question Tuesday during an appearance on 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will.

“I would venture to say that he’ll (Aguilar) be the starting quarterback at Tennessee in the fall if he were to win another year of eligibility,” said Price. “So instead of there being a big quarterback competition between George and Faizon, George and Faizon will be battling it out to see who the backup is behind Joey Aguilar heading into the 2026 season — if Joey is allowed to get eligible.”

Aguilar underwent surgery after the 2025 season to remove a benign tumor that had been pushing on his biceps tendon and labrum, causing weakness and pain. If Aguilar returns to Tennessee, he likely won’t go through spring practice.

“He’s in the rehab process coming off of having the tumor removed,” said Price. “And once he’s cleared, then sure, yes, he would be eligible to return. The question is: when does he get cleared? That’d be the biggest question.

“But I don’t think for Joey — sure you’d love to have spring (practice) — but he didn’t have spring this past year and he did pretty well. Now, I won’t argue that he needs the spring to continue to build on what he did last year in such a short amount of time. But you can also make the case that it’s not a bad thing to have George and Faizon getting a lot of the reps during spring. And Joey being more of a mental coach, and veteran leader on the team, in spring practice. Either way, yes, he’s (Aguilar) still around (at UT). He’s rehabbing and trying to get healthy for his return to college football or the NFL, either one.”

You never know how these things will play out — health, which is impossible to predict, will obviously play a big role. But it sounds like there won’t be a big open quarterback competition if Aguilar returns.

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