Joey Aguilar impresses coaching staff and secures starting quarterback job

It didn't take long for Joey Aguilar to get on campus and do enough to beat out Tennessee's younger quarterbacks for the starting quarterback job. 

Tennessee football's social media accounts made it official on Sunday night with a picture of Aguilar in Neyland Stadium with "At the helm" as the caption.

Aguilar has 25 career starts at Appalachian State, and his experience likely helped him get a head start in the QB battle, helping him secure the job over Jake Merklinger and George MacIntyre. 

He hasn't had a lot of time to learn the offensive system, though. Aguilar joined the Vols after spring and has had only a couple of months to learn the offense enough to run Heupel's system. A part of his ability to mesh with the new offensive system comes from his experience from JUCO to App State.

"Coming from JUCO to App. State the playbook changed," Aguilar shared about learning Tennessee's offense. "The terminology and verbiage changed but some things stack on top each other. Just learning how coach Halzle and coach Heupel teaches it. I feel like the experience of going from juco to App. State and even to UCLA helped me get the playbook down easier."

Josh Heupel praised Aguilar for his performance in the Vols' Friday scrimmage. His comfort level in the offense is evident, which is why he has won the starting job. 

"I thought he handled himself extremely well," Heupel shared with the media. "That’s today, but I think he’s got better, from day one up until today’s scrimmage. Really every single day. Comfort and control. He’s handled himself extremely well during our night walkthroughs, which is mental focus, mental sweat. And because of that, he’s extremely comfortable in what we’re doing right now."

Vol football shared one great throw Aguilar made with newcomer wide receiver Amari Jefferson in the Friday scrimmage, which should get Tennessee fans excited for the potential of Aguilar in Heupel's offense.

Aguilar threw for 6,760 yards and 62 touchdowns over two seasons for App State. The former JUCO product will now have the opportunity to light up SEC defenses as the Vols' starting quarterback. 

Brent Hubbs shared that this week, the Vols will prepare for their August 30 matchup with Syracuse by conducting a mock game week, during which all players will experience what game week will be like next week.