Kirk Herbstreit sets expectations for Joey Aguilar at Tennessee after replacing Nico Iamaleava

Kirk Herbstreit doesn’t yet know how he thinks Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar is going to play this fall. That said, he does think that he’ll have everything available to him to have success on Rocky Top.

Answering a question about the Volunteers’ quarterback transition this spring on ‘Try That In a Small Town’, Herbstreit discussed how he thinks Aguilar will be this season for the Volunteers. He’s still unsure five weeks out from kickoff but says he has the coach, offensive system, and fan support because of the circumstances of it all to think he could do well in Knoxville.

“I’m going to wait to see,” said Herbstreit. “He’s going into a great system. I mean, Josh Heupel puts the quarterback in a spot to be successful with the system that they run, so I wouldn’t be shocked to see him do well.”

“Also, he’s going in with, I don’t want to say nothing to lose. But the expectations are always high at Tennessee, but they’re going to be in his corner. That fanbase is going to be in his corner after Nico kind of left them the way he did,” Herbstreit added.

Aguilar arrives, in place of QB Nico Iamaleava, after spending the spring with UCLA following his original transfer this offseason from Appalachian State. He, over two years starting in Boone, completed 60.1% of his throws for 6,760 yards, 56 touchdowns, and 24 interceptions in posting an average of 207.4 passing yards per game.

That production in the Sun Belt now projects to translate into a leading offense in the sport at Tennessee. Over four seasons under Heupel, the Volunteers have had a Top-40 scoring offense in each one, including three in the Top-15, by averaging 38.2 points and 474 yards of offense per game. Part of that output has been the quarterback play in the system, namely by Hendon Hooker in the first two as well as the past two then with Joe Milton and Iamaleava.

The Volunteers could become an even bigger story this season if Aguilar works out after all this. Herbstreit is interested to see it too with how it could all go for Tennessee after Iamaleava’s transfer.

“I’m fired up to see what Tennessee does this year because they’re kind of in an underdog role after you lose your franchise quarterback like that overnight,” said Herbstreit. “I think we’re all excited to kind of see who they are and what Josh does, because he’s a great coach, what he does to kind of come up with answers to win games this year.”