Tennessee Quarterback Joey Aguilar Denied Preliminary Injunction by Judge

The Tennessee Volunteers will be searching for a new starting quarterback for the fifth-straight season, with Chris Low of On3 reporting that the Volunteers' signal caller had his preliminary injunction denied by Chris Heagerty, a Knox County Court judge, denying him another year of eligibility in college football.

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Aguilar's legal team argued that since he only played three NCAA seasons in three years, he should have one year of eligibility remaining. Aguilar started playing college football in 2019 at City College of San Francisco, but redshirted that season. The 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He then played at Diablo Valley Junior College before transferring to App State ahead of the 2023 season. He spent two years at App State before transferring to UCLA ahead of the 2025 season during the winter transfer portal window.

When former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava left Tennessee and transferred to UCLA during the spring transfer portal window, Aguilar entered the transfer portal and went to Tennessee, where he won the starting quarterback job with the Volunteers in his first year with the program. In his lone season in Knoxville, Aguilar completed 67.3% of his passes for 3,565 yards and 24 touchdowns to 10 interceptions. He also rushed for 101 yards and four scores on the ground.

His college career comes to an end, but he will be in attendance in Indianapolis, Indiana, next week for the NFL combine. For Tennessee, the Volunteers will have a new quarterback for the fifth-straight season. Colorado transfer Ryan Staub, redshirt freshman Georgia McIntyre, and five-star freshman Faizon Brandon will compete for the Volunteers' starting quarterback job.

The decision marks a second "win" for the NCAA in ongoing legal disputes against college players. Tuscaloosa Circuit Court judge Daniel Pruet denied Alabama men's basketball player Charles Bediako a preliminary injunction to finish his college career with the Alabama Crimson Tide. Bediako's attorneys argued that Bediako was within his five-year window to play college basketball, but Judge Pruet denied him. Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss's quarterback, was granted his injunction by a judge in Pittsboro, Mississippi, where he argued that he should have received a medical redshirt during the 2022 season.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.