INDIANAPOLIS — Former Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar has permanently closed the door on pursuing college football, one week removed from a judge denying his request for a preliminary injunction to play a seventh season.
“The short time I was at Tennessee — I got there like mid-May — it was a quick turnaround,” Aguilar said Friday at the NFL Scouting Combine. “I feel like the opportunity to go back and be in that system and be in a whole offseason with those coaches one more time would make me prepared even more. But I feel good where I’m at, and I’m excited.”
Aguilar remains enrolled at Tennessee, where he worked out this offseason as if he were returning in the fall. He said Friday that he won’t pursue any more legal avenues to play college football. Earlier this month, he sued the NCAA in an attempt to not count participation in junior college as part of an athlete’s eligibility. Under a traditional time period, athletes have five years to complete four collegiate seasons.
Aguilar spent four years in junior college before playing three years at the Division I level. In 2019, he redshirted at San Francisco City College, and in 2020, junior-college football was canceled amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Aguilar then transferred to Diablo Valley Community College, where he played in 2021-22, then moved on to Appalachian State for the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
An injunction before the 2025 season prevented the NCAA from deeming junior-college players ineligible. It allowed several players, including All-American quarterback Diego Pavia of Vanderbilt, to return for the season.
Last year was a whirlwind for Aguilar, who will turn 25 in June. He left Appalachian State for UCLA in the spring of 2025 but re-entered the transfer portal after the Bruins picked up former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava. Aguilar then signed with Tennessee in a de facto trade for $1 million, according to court filings.
With the Vols last fall, Aguilar threw for 3,565 yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. As part of his lawsuit, Aguilar would have earned about $2 million this coming year had a judge allowed him to compete for Tennessee this season. Instead, Knox County Chancellor Christopher Heagerty — a Tennessee fan — denied a preliminary injunction that would have blocked the NCAA from ruling him ineligible.
“It was unique,” Aguilar said. “But those guys are lawyers for a reason and judges for a reason, and they know more than I do. So I just sat back and tried to understand what I can understand and just let them handle the work.”
Aguilar is now focused on the NFL, but he will not throw at the combine. He played with benign tumors in his right biceps and right shoulder that were removed this offseason. He would have started throwing this week at Tennessee, but will wait to start after the combine. Aguilar hopes to throw at Tennessee’s pro day on March 31.
“I’ve been working out and rehabbing, and then I got the answer I was waiting for this past Friday and came out here (to Indianapolis) on Tuesday,” Aguilar said.