Joey Aguilar Suing NCAA In Local Knoxville Court Seeking Extra Year Of Eligibility At Tennessee
The former Tennessee quarterback filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in Knoxville, using Diego Pavia ruling last year as major point in his case.
Joey Aguilar has decided that suing the NCAA in a local Knoxville court is the best route to take when it comes to playing another year of college football for Tennessee.
Not currently enrolled, the former Vols quarterback filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on January 30th, looking for a seventh season of eligibility. What's his argument for receiving another year?
That part centers around his ability to make over $2 million next season at Tennessee, along with a ruling that was handed down last season to Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia, in which a court granted him the ability not to have a JUCO year counted against his collegiate clock.
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In 2019, Aguilar enrolled at the Community College of San Francisco, where he redshirted. In 2020, the season was canceled due to Covid. Then, he played two seasons at Diablo Valley Community College before transferring to Appalachian State, where he became a hot commodity.
The lawsuit was first reported by Adam Sparks of the Knox News Sentinel.
"The NCAA generally lets athletes play four full seasons, and Aguilar has played only three; but the NCAA arbitrarily counts the years he played in junior college at a non-NCAA school, as years he played for the NCAA," part of the lawsuit noted. "The NCAA refuses to give Aguilar one more year of eligibility, even though it gave all former JUCO players that relief last year after it lost a similar case against Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt’s starting quarterback."
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - NOVEMBER 29: Joey Aguilar #6 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates after a touchdown during the first quarter of the game against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Neyland Stadium on November 29, 2025 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images)
Aguilar's case, compared to Diego Pavia, is somewhat different. The former Vanderbilt quarterback only played one year of football at the lower level, which helped his case with the NCAA's five-and-five rule, in the eyes of the court.
Since Aguilar participated in numerous seasons of football at the JUCO level, even though it's not affiliated with the NCAA, this has been the holdup in the eyes of the NCAA granting him a waiver.
After transferring to UCLA last year, he subsequently left before Spring practice was over after former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamalaeva transferred to the same school.
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In one of the weirdest cases of college football in 2025, Aguilar then left UCLA for Tennessee, where he started this past season, giving Josh Heupel a veteran quarterback to lead the offense.
The Local Route Might Work Out Better Than Federal Court For Aguilar
Aguilar is going the route of Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and Alabama's Charles Bediako, by filing a lawsuit in local court, where he hopes to get a more favorable decision from a judge.
It also helps that this isn't a federal case, given that those could take longer, and a TRO (Temporary Restraining Order) could be granted in quicker fashion.
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In their filing, Aguilar made it clear that needing an expedited ruling was of the upmost importance, so the quarterback could start preparation for the NFL if not granted the TRO.
If he were to be granted the court order, he could simply enroll at Tennessee during one of its mini-terms that schools conveniently have in place for students during the winter and spring semesters.
Aguilar's attorney, Cam Norris, alerted the court that Tennessee does have a roster spot available for the quarterback if he is granted a TRO by the judge. Also, the Vols are going to spend over $2 million to procure his services for the 2026 season if he's allowed to play.
Will it happen? That's up to the legal system. But, Josh Heupel tried to find a replacement through the transfer portal and essentially struck out numerous times.