How Joey Aguilar could return to Tennessee in 2026 with Diego Pavia case

Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar joined Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia’s lawsuit against the NCAA’s junior college rule, hoping to gain an extra year of eligibility and return to the Vols in 2026.

Aguilar was among numerous plaintiffs added to the amended complaint, which was filed in federal court in Nashville on Nov. 21 and obtained by Knox News.

It challenges the rule which counts junior college seasons as part of a student-athletes’ NCAA eligibility.

The NCAA allows players to compete for four seasons within five years, and junior college seasons count toward that total and time period. Pavia’s lawsuit seeks to change the eligibility rules, where junior college competition wouldn’t factor into seasons of eligibility or an athlete’s eligibility clock.

Only seasons at an NCAA institution would count as part of NCAA eligibility.

If successful, that would mean one more season for the 24-year-old Aguilar. And it would greatly impact UT’s quarterback plans for the 2026 season. Aguilar has already spent seven years in college football, but only three seasons at NCAA member schools.

Aguilar is chasing Peyton Manning’s single-season UT record for passing yards as the 20th-ranked Vols (7-3, 3-3 SEC) play Florida (3-7, 2-5) on Nov. 22 (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) in Gainesville.

Heading into this Week 13 slate of games, Aguilar led the SEC with 2,941 yards passing and 22 TD passes.

Here's where Joey Aguilar spent seven years in college football

In 2019, Aguilar redshirted at City College of San Francisco. In 2020, the COVID pandemic canceled his junior college season there. In 2021-22, he played two junior college seasons at Diablo Valley College.

Then Aguilar’s NCAA career began. In 2023-24, he played at Appalachian State, a Division I FBS school in the Sun Belt Conference. He transferred to UCLA for spring 2025, and then he transferred to Tennessee in an essential quarterback swap involving Nico Iamaleava.

This 2025 season is Aguilar’s third season at an NCAA school.

Pavia’s efforts already earned an extra season of eligibility for Aguilar, which allowed him to ultimately play for Tennessee in the 2025 season.

In December 2024, Pavia challenged the NCAA’s eligibility rules in federal court and won a preliminary injunction that forced the NCAA to grant a blanket waiver awarding an extra year of eligibility to college players who started their career in junior college.

Now, the next phase of Pavia’s lawsuit could give Aguilar another season with the Vols.

On Nov. 10, Aguilar indicated that he planned to spend 2026 trying to make an NFL roster. Of course, that was before he joined Pavia’s lawsuit.

“I’m blessed for this one year (at Tennessee) and grateful to be here for this year,” Aguilar said on Nov. 10. “I’m just thankful and took advantage of the opportunity. I’m going to try to see where I could go at the next level. And if something happens, something happens.”

But with Aguilar joining Pavia's lawsuit, it appears he wants one more season of college football. Notably, that would give him one more season of earning NIL money, as well.

How Aguilar return would impact George MacIntyre, Faizon Brandon

For Tennessee, it would potentially solve a looming quarterback conundrum in 2026.

Redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and freshman George MacIntyre are the other quarterbacks on UT’s roster.

It’s assumed that Merklinger, who lost a competition for the starting job to Aguilar, will enter the transfer portal in January. But Merklinger hasn’t commented on that possibility.

Coaches are encouraged by MacIntyre’s progress. But he’s barely played as a freshman, so there are questions about whether he’d be ready for the starting job in 2026. Five-star freshman Faizon Brandon is committed to sign with UT in December and enroll in January.

If Aguilar doesn’t return in 2026, UT may consider adding a transfer quarterback as an insurance policy if MacIntyre or Brandon aren’t ready for the starting job. But both young quarterbacks were highly touted recruits and, presumably, well paid in NIL money.

So adding a transfer quarterback could complicate the succession plan.

However, if Aguilar returned in 2026, he could serve as a one-year bridge to the next starting quarterback. And then MacIntyre and Brandon could compete for the backup job in anticipation of winning the starting role in 2027.

Perhaps it wouldn’t go off that smoothly because quarterback competitions rarely do in this era of NIL and the transfer portal. But the Vols at least would have stability at quarterback if Pavia’s court case brought Aguilar back to UT in 2026.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email [email protected]. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: How QB Joey Aguilar could return to Tennessee football in 2026