Joey Aguilar

Last updated

Joey Aguilar
Joey Aguilar 2025.png
Aguilar with the Tennessee Volunteers in 2025
Tennessee VolunteersNo. 6
Position Quarterback
ClassGraduate
Personal information
Born: (2001-06-16) June 16, 2001 (age 24)
Antioch, California, U.S.
Height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight225 lb (102 kg)
Career history
College
High school Freedom (Oakley, California)
Career highlights and awards

Joey Aguilar (born June 16, 2001) is an American college football quarterback who plays for the Tennessee Volunteers. He previously played for the Appalachian State Mountaineers and the Diablo Valley Vikings.

Contents

Early life

Aguilar attended Freedom High School, where he completed 336 of 552 pass attempts for 5,575 yards and 59 touchdowns to 14 interceptions. He also rushed for 151 yards and four touchdowns. [1] Aguilar enrolled to play college football at City College of San Francisco. [2] [3]

College career

City College of San Francisco (2019–2020)

With no offers coming out of high school, Aguilar enrolled at the City College of San Francisco and redshirted as a true freshman in 2019. [3]

Aguilar did not get the opportunity to play in 2020, as the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [4] [5] He considered ending his football career and pursuing a career as a firefighter after taking firefighting courses at CCSF. [6] Later, Aguilar decided to transfer to Diablo Valley College and continue playing college football.

Diablo Valley (2021–2022)

Going into 2021, Dylan Graham was named the starting quarterback for the team. Aguilar competed with him in the first five games of the season, eventually beating out Graham for the starting role. Aguilar made his first start for the team in week 6 against Laney, leading the team to win by the score of 54–29. [7] He remained the starter for the rest of the season, finishing with a record of 3–2.

In 2022, Graham had transferred out of Diablo Valley to the University of Texas Permian Basin, leaving Aguilar with the starting job. [3] Aguilar played in the first two games of the season, however an injury sidelined him for a month. After missing three games, Aguilar returned to play in October against Chabot, winning with a score of 33–17. At Diablo Valley, Aguilar completed 228 of 379 passing attempts for 2,992 yards and 21 touchdowns with ten interceptions and rushed for 619 yards and two touchdowns, while also hauling in one reception. [8]

Appalachian State (2023–2024)

For his junior year, Aguilar committed to playing Division I college football at Appalachian State University. [9] [10] He was named backup quarterback behind Ryan Burger. [11] However, in week one, after Burger went down with an injury, Aguilar came in for relief, where he completed 11 of his 13 passes for 174 yards and four touchdowns in a win over Gardner-Webb. [12] He was named the starting quarterback for their week 2 matchup versus North Carolina. [13] In his first start against North Carolina, Aguilar went 22 for 43 passing for 275 yards and two touchdowns with an interception in a loss. [14] In week 3, Aguilar completed 17 of 29 passing attempts for 241 yards and three touchdowns with an interception, while also adding a touchdown on the ground in a win over East Carolina. [15] In week 5, Aguilar went 27 for 39 for 335 yards and three touchdowns, with two interceptions, as he helped the Mountaineers beat Louisiana-Monroe 41–40. [16]

Aguilar holds multiple single season passing records and ranks among the program’s top 10 in several career passing categories, despite playing only two seasons. In 2023, he set school records with 3,757 passing yards and 33 touchdowns. [17] His 2024 totals rank sixth all-time in passing yards and tied for ninth in passing touchdowns. Aguilar passed for 424 yards in a 2024 game against East Carolina University, marking the third-highest single-game total in program history. [18] He graduated from Appalachian State University with a degree in Communication Studies in 2025 before arriving at Tennessee. [5] [19]

Tennessee (2025)

On December 28, 2024, Aguilar decided to transfer to UCLA for his final year of eligiblity. [20] Following Nico Iamaleava's transfer to UCLA, Aguilar decided to transfer to Tennessee. [21] [22] Upon Aguilar's arrival, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel stated that there would be open competition at the quarterback position between Aguilar, Jake Merklinger, and George MacIntyre. [23] On August 17, 2025, Aguilar was named the starter going into the week 1 game against Syracuse. [24] In his debut for Tennessee, Aguilar threw for 247 yards and 3 touchdowns, beating Syracuse with a score of 45–26. [25]

Statistics

SeasonTeamGamesPassingRushing
GPGSRecordCmpAttPctYdsY/ATDIntRtgAttYdsAvgTD
2019 CCSF Redshirt.svg Redshirted
2020 CCSF Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Diablo Valley 1053–210218256.01,5468.5136144.4522615.022
2022 Diablo Valley 664–212619764.01,4467.384135.0653585.510
2023 Appalachian State 14138–529346063.73,7578.23310151.6812453.03
2024 Appalachian State 11115–621839055.83,0037.72314132.5592073.52
2025 Tennessee 443–17811766.71,1249.6123176.114372.61
CCCAA career [26] 16117–422837960.22,9927.92110139.51176195.272
Career [8] [27] 292816−1258996760.97,8848.26827147.01544893.26

Personal life

Aguilar is the son of Jose and Lydia Aguilar. [28] Aguilar is a Christian. [29] [30]

References

  1. "Joey Aguilar Football Stats". MaxPreps.com. Retrieved October 3, 2023.[ better source needed ]
  2. "Joey Aguilar". appstatesports.com. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Khan Jr., Sam (July 25, 2025). "Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar nearly quit football — now he's on the sport's biggest stage". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved July 28, 2025.
  4. "2020-21". California Community College Athletic Association . Retrieved July 28, 2025.
  5. 1 2 Sparks, Adam (August 27, 2025). "How Joey Aguilar's long journey to Tennessee football started in a California train station". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved September 4, 2025.
  6. Sparks, Adam (August 20, 2025). "Why Joey Aguilar thought he'd be a firefighter before a Tennessee football quarterback". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved September 4, 2025.
  7. "Diablo Valley vs. LANEY - Box Score - 10/15/2021". Diablo Valley College Viking Athletics. Retrieved August 5, 2025.
  8. 1 2 "Joey Aguilar Stats". The Football Database. Retrieved August 18, 2025.
  9. "Joey Aguilar". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  10. "Joey Aguilar, Appalachian State, Quarterback". 247Sports. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  11. McCormack, Patrick (August 28, 2023). "Burger to start at quarterback for App State". Watauga Democrat. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  12. "Backup Joey Aguilar throws 4 TD passes, App State pulls away from Gardner-Webb 45-24". AP News. September 2, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  13. Brennan, Moss (September 4, 2023). "App State's Aguilar to start against UNC Chapel Hill, Burger out 3-4 weeks". Watauga Democrat. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  14. Alexander, Chip (September 10, 2023). "How North Carolina won an offensive game against Appalachian State with its defense". News & Observer. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  15. "Aguilar accounts for 4 TDs, Noel runs for 178 yards and a TD; Appalachian State beats ECU 43-28". AP News. September 17, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2025.
  16. "Hughes kicks 54-yard field goal as time expires, Appalachian State tops Louisiana-Monroe 41-40". CBS Sports. Associated Press. October 1, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  17. Adams, Jonathan D. (April 21, 2025). "Tennessee Lands Record-Breaking 6,700-Yard Quarterback to Replace Nico Iamaleava". Athlon Sports. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
  18. "Appalachian State vs. East Carolina Box Score". ESPN.com. September 14, 2024. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  19. Sparks, Adam (May 13, 2025). "Joey Aguilar arrives at Tennessee. Here's what lies ahead for new QB before 2025 season". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved September 15, 2025.
  20. Uggetti, Paolo (December 28, 2024). "Joey Aguilar transferring to UCLA after 2 years at App State". ESPN . Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  21. Rapp, Timothy (April 21, 2025). "UCLA's Joey Aguilar Reportedly Will Sign with Tennessee After Nico Iamaleava Transfer". Bleacher Report. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  22. Williams, Jonathan (April 29, 2025). "Joey Aguilar Officially Commits to Tennessee Volunteers". SI.com. Retrieved April 29, 2025.
  23. Nettuno, Tyler (July 16, 2025). "Josh Heupel addresses Tennessee QB battle at SEC media days". College Sports Wire. USA Today. Retrieved August 18, 2025.
  24. Dajani, Jordan (August 18, 2025). "Joey Aguilar named Tennessee's starting QB: UCLA transfer takes over after departure of Nico Iamaleava". CBSSports.com. Retrieved August 18, 2025.
  25. Backus, Will (August 30, 2025). "Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar impresses in debut vs. Syracuse, restores some faith in Vols offense". CBSSports.com. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
  26. "Joey Aguilar". Diablo Valley College Viking Athletics. Retrieved August 19, 2025.
  27. "Joey Aguilar College Stats, School, Draft, Gamelog, Splits". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
  28. "Joey Aguilar". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved September 20, 2025.
  29. Brown, Patrick (July 30, 2025). "Long summer days, strong faith and an unlikely journey – the best from Joey Aguilar at Tennessee's media day". 247Sports. Retrieved September 20, 2025.
  30. Robinson, Rylee (August 21, 2025). "Joey Aguilar excited and ready to lead Tennessee as QB 1 as kickoff nears" . Retrieved September 15, 2025.