Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said Joey Aguilar has been "super consistent" leading up to his first start with the Vols vs. Syracuse.
What Josh Heupel has seen from Joey Aguilar since naming him Tennessee Football’s starting quarterback is the same thing the Vols saw from the transfer since he got to Knoxville in May.
“He’s got an extremely calm demeanor about him,” Heupel said Wednesday during his appearance on the SEC Coaches Teleconference. “Very confident in who he is as a person and as a player. And he’s done a great job just being super consistent here throughout the course of the build up to kickoff.”
Aguilar, who spent the last two seasons at Appalachian State before transferring to UCLA in December, was named Tennessee’s starter on August 17, leads the Vols into the season opener against Syracuse on Saturday (Noon Eastern Time, ABC) in the Aflac Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Joey Aguilar at App State: 6,760 yards, 56 TDs, 24 INTs
He threw for 6,760 yards, 56 touchdowns and 24 interceptions over the last two seasons at Appalachian State. He was back in the NCAA Transfer Portal in April after former Tennessee starter Nico Iamaleava transferred to UCLA.
Aguilar beat out redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and freshman George MacIntyre despite his late arrival, learning Tennessee’s offense and winning the job over the first two weeks of fall camp.
“From when he first arrived here,” Heupel said, “(it has been) just his ability to build relationships with our guys and grow into somebody that has a voice inside of this team.
“And anytime you’re learning a new offense,” Heupel continued, “there’s a lot of time on task with that. And as he’s continued to grow inside of it, I’ve been able to see and feel him on the practice field and in the building more and more.”
Josh Heupel declined to name backup quarterback on Monday
It’s currently unclear who will serve as Tennessee’s backup quarterback — the Vols haven’t released a depth chart this week — though Merklinger is the more experienced option after appearing in two games last season.
“You guys will find out on Saturday, I guess,” Heupel said on Monday, “when the depth chart comes out.”
What he was willing to say on Wednesday is the quarterback competition couldn’t have gone better.
“The entire (quarterback) group competed,” he said. “In the meeting room, in the weight room, on the practice field, all the right ways. I think it was a great example to our team of how you handle competition.
“They pushed each other, challenged each other, helped each other grow. And you need that throughout the course of the season as well.”
Category: General Sports
