Tennessee football lost quarterback Nico Iamaleava to UCLA this week.

In response, the Vols reeled in Bruins quarterback Joey Aguilar.

With Tennessee reportedly scheduled to pay Iamaleava $2.4 million before his departure, it is saving some significant money. Ross Dellenger of Yahoo reports that Aguilar will be paid approximately a million dollars less than Iamaleava's former deal.

He also reports that Iamaleava's deal at UCLA is not expected to match what he was going to be paid if he stayed in Knoxville.

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Aguilar transferred from App State, where he spent two seasons, to UCLA this off-season. After spring camp, he entered the transfer portal in the wake of the Iamaleava news.

Last season with the Mountaineers, Aguilar completed 55.9% of passes for 3,003 yards. He tossed 23 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He was a All-Sun Belt honorable mention.

The year prior, Aguilar completed 63.7% of passes for 3,757 yards with 33 touchdowns and 10 picks. This earned him Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year and Cure Bowl MVP.

He also ran for a total of five touchdowns in his two seasons at App State.

These productive seasons have earned him multiple school records:

— Single-season passing yards (3,757 - 2023)

— Single-season passing touchdowns (33 - 2023)

— Single-season total offense (4,002 - 2023)

— Single-season 200-yard passing games (13 - 2023)

— Single-season pass completions (293 - 2023)

— Single-season pass attempts (460 - 2023)

Prior to his time with the Mountaineers, Aguilar played two seasons at Diablo Valley Community College in central California.

His prep career was at Freedom High School. In his final two years, he threw for 5,575 yards with 59 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He was a First-team All-Bay 6 those final pair of seasons.

After his first season as the starter and second with the Tennessee program, Iamaleava returned as the Vols' unquestioned starter. However, as spring camp wound down, a bombshell dropped on the Thursday before the annual Orange & White Spring Game.

Reports surfaced that Iamaleava was in active talks regarding his NIL compensation. That night, Iamaleava's father took to Twitter/X to call out the report for being fabricated.

On Friday morning, Iamaleava, to the surprise of the coaching staff and team, did not show up for practice. The following day, Tennessee made the decision public that it would be moving on from Iamaleava and looking for a different quarterback for the upcoming season.

Vols coach Josh Heupel indicated the decision was made when Iamaleava did not show up for practice on Friday. He also acknowledged that the program would look to the transfer portal to bring in a quarterback, which ultimately wound up being Aguilar.

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