Josh Heupel details where Joey Aguilar stands in learning Tennessee offense

The Tennessee Volunteers just wrapped up a scrimmage in fall camp, giving coaches a much more thorough opportunity to evaluate some key players. That includes Appalachian State transfer quarterback Joey Aguilar.

Coach Josh Heupel commented on Aguilar’s performance after the scrimmage. Suffice it to say he was impressed.

“I thought he handled himself extremely well,” Heupel said. “That’s today. I think he’s gotten better from Day 1 up until today’s scrimmage, really every single day. Comfort, control.”

Those last two will ring especially loud in the ears of Tennessee fans, who are hoping Aguilar can be an upgrade from the departed Nico Iamaleava. Of course, looking at Joey Aguilar’s history, there was some cause for concern.

He has thrown 24 interceptions over the last two seasons. That’s something that will have to be cleaned up.

Luckily for Tennessee, Heupel’s system tends to put quarterbacks in good positions. Most of his quarterbacks to date with the Volunteers have been able to avoid turnovers.

There’s one other area that Joey Aguilar is acquitting himself well in, though. That’s the mental side of the game.

“He’s handling himself extremely well during our night walk-throughs, which is mental focus, mental sweat,” Heupel said. “Because of that he’s extremely comfortable in what we’re doing right now.”

That should make for a nice season for Tennessee. Of course, the proof will be in the pudding and Joey Aguilar still has to go out there and produce.

Josh Heupel shares an injury update

While all eyes in the scrimmage were on Joey Aguilar, there was one player missing that was notable. That’s star defensive back Jermod McCoy.

Recently, Heupel shared just how active McCoy has been in recent weeks. In particular, he shared that while McCoy was not able to scrimmage, he has been on the practice field and is continuing to progress.

“He was not a part of the scrimmage,” Josh Heupel said. “He’s continuing his rehab, and I think you guys saw him on the practice field with us a few days ago. He’s continuing on that.”

Jermod McCoy tore his ACL last January. Since then, it’s been a long road to recovery. During fall camp, however, has been the best opportunity to see the strides he’s taking on the field. That, recently, included doing individual drills for the first time.

A key figure on the Tennessee defense, Josh Heupel knows how key Jermod McCoy is to the Volunteers’ success on defense. A year ago, he produced 44 total tackles and a tackle for a loss with four interceptions and another nine passes defended. Those four interceptions were tied for the second most in the SEC, and he started 12 games.

On3’s Dan Morrison also contributed to this report.