‘In hindsight, we’re good’: Tennessee sources revisit Nico Iamaleava saga, embrace Joey Aguilar as better fit

Folks around the Tennessee football program would deny it publicly, but several are closely tracking Nico Imaleava’s weekly slide from grace at UCLA. “There are some who pay attention for sure,” a Tennessee source said.

Even those who don’t are kept abreast because, as another program source put it, “You don’t have to watch, because Tennessee Twitter is all over it.”

Who among us hasn’t kept up with an ex?

Right now, it’s Tennessee that’s thriving — with a revenge body. The No. 15 Vols are 2-0 ahead of a home showdown with No. 6 Georgia. Arguably the biggest catalyst for that hot start is the player to be named later from Tennessee’s wonky quarterback “trade” this spring with UCLA.

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A one-time no-star high school recruit, Joey Aguilar has thrown for 535 yards and 5 touchdowns against no interceptions with a 66.1% completion rate. Last week he helped lead the Vols to a program-record 72 points against East Tennessee State.

The quarterback who declared the relationship over is fronting a struggling team. UCLA sits at 0-2 with losses to Utah and UNLV. Iamaleava isn’t the root cause of the Bruins’ issues, but his stats through two games — 391 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs — don’t reflect someone who arrived in college as a five-star recruit with oodles of hype.

Tennessee seems to have fully embraced the Aguilar experience. Over in Knoxville, Aguilar — a former JUCO prospect — has earned respect for the way he’s worked his way up to college football’s highest level. Sources around the program describe Aguilar as an elite leader, contrasting his vocal style with the much quieter Iamaleava. Said a third Vols source of Aguilar: “He’s a grown man. He acts like a grown man. He’s so put together.”

Even Aguilar’s grandma is a viral sensation for the Tennessee fanbase after the cameras caught the 82-year-old crying in the stands watching her grandson play.

For Tennessee, at least, it’s all part of an unexpectedly delightful quarterback trade — even if the months that led up to it resembled a nightmare.

“In hindsight, we’re good,” the first Tennessee source said. “(If someone said), ‘Would you do this all over?’ I think everybody would be like, ‘We got Joey? He is who he is here? We’re fine.’

“The kids are going to be slow to say it because some of them are friends (with Nico). But (Joey) gets the ball around more. He hangs out with more people. He’s more charismatic. He doesn’t keep to himself.”

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There were signs of a frayed relationship between Tennessee and Iamaleava during the winter.

Iamaleava’s camp approached the Vols ahead of the winter portal deadline looking for a new deal as quarterback salaries spiked across the country. Free agent QBs like Carson Beck (to Miami) and Darien Mensah (to Duke) had made headlines for their new deals, especially Mensah’s two-year, $8 million agreement. Iamaleava, who was in the low $2 million range, had just led his team to the College Football Playoff in 2024. His camp — taking special notice of Mensah’s new terms — wanted to see if there were adjustments to be made.

Nothing came of those discussions. But issues would pop up from time to time. Iamaleava even skipped an offseason team workout that raised some eyebrows within Knoxville.

“You could sense the tension,” the third Vols source said. “I still didn’t believe he’d leave in the spring. Going into your junior year and you played well? I talked with some NFL teams who might have drafted him in the first round in 2025 (had he been draft-eligible) because the quarterback class was weaker. He’s physically very talented.”

Things were still on shaky ground in April. Tennessee, at large, felt the demands from Iamaleava’s camp in the spring were still centered around money. Iamaleava’s camp, per a source, wanted more investment from Tennessee in the team’s offensive line and receiver room.

Even a few months later, the messages surrounding the reason for the tension are still mixed. Many in Tennessee’s program blame money and Iamaleava’s aggressive camp. Others, both inside the program and close to Iamalaeva, say the demands had much more to do with resources.

Still, both sides were expected to remain together in 2025 until a report emerged publicly that Iamaleava was considering exploring the portal. Iamaleava’s camp was furious; it believed Tennessee leaked the story to influence the public perception against a quarterback already flush with money. The Vols were frustrated the issue continued to pop up. So even though Iamaleava attended a quarterback meeting at his offensive coordinator’s house less than 12 hours before the final split and those around him insisted he was happy, Iamaleava skipped a practice the following day, insisting he needed a mental break.

Either way, it proved to be the breaking point and Iamaleava, a historic recruit who in high school signed an NIL deal worth up to $10 milliontransferred from Tennessee after just two seasons.

“It’s really a shame because we did everything they asked really and we were so, so accommodating,” the third Tennessee source said. “I still believe it was a worthwhile thing that we did. Getting Nico changed the perception of our program at a time where it was reeling from (Jeremy) Pruitt. Five-star quarterbacks move the needle. We got to the playoff. I did think after the playoff game we had probably gotten as much value out of Nico as we were going to get.”

The public nature of the split and the timing of it limited Iamaleava’s options in the portal. Most teams were set at quarterback. The ones that weren’t were worried how adding Iamaleava would disturb their locker room.

UCLA was natural spot to link Iamaleava to, being that Iamaleava is a Los Angeles native. But UCLA had just added Aguilar during the winter transfer window from Appalachian Stateand he was projected (and paid) to be the program’s starter.

Even after Iamaleava entered the portal, sources say some within UCLA’s program initially told Aguilar they did not plan to pursue Iamaleava in the portal. During that time, Iamaleava’s camp was doing its due diligence on what would be like with the Bruins. They had questions about UCLA’s o-line and wide receiver depth chart after a member of the camp attended a practice, mirroring their concerns about what they left behind in Knoxville.

Despite a lot of public and behind-the-scenes denials, Iamaleava announced his intention to transfer to UCLA after eight days in the portal, on April 20.

Aguilar is said to have found at the same time as the rest of his team, via social media.

One day later, Aguilar entered the transfer portal for a second time in less than six months. The Vols reached out immediately. Tennessee had done backchannel work on a few other starting quarterbacks across the FBS, but Aguilar fit what they needed. He was an experienced starter, he was available and he would not break the bank for a program that’s already committing significant quarterback resources in the 2026 class to the No. 1 overall recruit Faizon Brandon.

Aguilar within hours agreed to a deal to transfer to Tennessee. In the unusual quarterback “trade,” Tennessee saved considerable resources in what it would pay Aguilar compared to the more than $2 million it had committed to spend on Iamaleava for the 2025 season.

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It’s just two games, but you can already see areas in which Aguilar’s helped elevate Tennessee’s offense.

The best Josh Heupel offenses run the ball well in his veer-and-shoot style system and stretch the field vertically. Tennessee did the first part last year at a very high level with Dylan Sampson. The second part proved to be more of a struggle. The Vols ranked just 96th nationally in passing plays of 20-plus yards. Iamaleava completed just 32% of his passes 20-plus yards down the field and only 53.8% of those from 10 to 19 yards, per PFF.

Tennessee ranks 32nd nationally in explosive passing plays so far in 2025 — despite ranking 125th nationally in drop percentage — and Aguilar is proving to be much more accurate in the medium (71.3%) and deep (57.1%) areas of the field.

“Just very steady, and that’s a testament to who he is,” Heupel said of Aguilar following the Vols’ Week 1 win over Syracuse. “That’s who he is as a person … You look at a guy that’s come in and in three-and-a-half months — whatever it might be — and to be able to learn, grasp and play the way he did today, it’s a testament to his work.”

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Iamaleava is not playing poorly for UCLA, by any means. His QBR ranking of 48th is actually just behind Aguilar at 45th, and the Bruins’ situation around him is problematic with UCLA ranking last in the Power Four in pressure rate allowed (41.4%).

Those around Knoxville have noticed UCLA’s personnel struggles around Iamaleava, a point that’s not lost on them with the way the Iamaleava camp criticized the team’s roster on the way out.

“Nobody wants anybody to fail,” the first Tennessee source said. “But to say you left here because we weren’t good enough is asinine. We have much better o-line play. The running game is good. We have some good receivers. To say you’re leaving because we’re not a talented team and we didn’t put talent around you is asinine.”

Iamaleava has more natural talent than Aguilar. He ranked as the No. 1 player in the 2025 transfer cycle for a reason. But those around Knoxville wonder just how much of that talent is actually translating to the field every week.

“Anybody who watches football can say, ‘Yeah, one guy has way more upside,” the first Tennessee source said. “But for whatever reason he hasn’t reached that yet.”

Maybe Aguilar does have a lower ceiling in Knoxville than Iamaleava would have. But those around the program are thrilled with the way he’s come in, built relationships and led with a charisma that’s made him a popular figure in a short time and a more than capable QB for a team that had perhaps thought it was in for a rebuilding year and now looks to have a puncher’s chance at getting back to the CFP.

“I think the fans are going to give him a little bit of a break, it feels like, to me,” the third source said. “Now not multiple losses kind of break. I think people are genuinely rooting for him. They want him to be successful. They are going to be a little bit understanding.”

CBS Sports’ Richard Johnson contributed to this report