What Joey Aguilar said about being named Tennessee's starting quarterback

Everything Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar said during his media availability Wednesday afternoon, speaking publicly for the first time since being named the starting quarterback of the Vols:

His reaction to being named Tennessee’s starting quarterback on Sunday

“I was super excited. Coming out here and being the starting quarterback push of this program is nothing but excitement. And that’s all I can say. I’m just super excited.” 

How he thinks he won the job

“That’s tough to say. I don’t think anything specific, I would say, just because George (MacIntyre) and Jake (Merklinger are) really good athletes and good quarterbacks as it was. It was a hard battle. It was fun, though. We went out there and competed with each other, but also helped each other in every way we can. So I don’t really have a specific answer for that.”

The conversation with Josh Heupel about who the starter would be

“He just told (talked about) the way we competed with each other. There’s two ways you compete with somebody. You can compete and just be solo and not really try to help that other person, or you can compete together and work —iron sharpens iron — and work together to build whoever goes out there to be a starter, even if it was me or somebody else, that we are working together and be as one. So, I mean, I think just the way he told us how he liked how we went out there every day to support each other. And going into practice not trying to be bad to the other person.”

How he would asses his performance in camp

“It was a lot coming in such a short amount of time, but I grinded out the days being in here early morning, late nights, and would just go out there, watch film, talk to the coaches and just try to get the game plans going and get the concept of the offense down. It took a while, but I got it down. I was able to go out there and perform in the scrimmages and stuff like that.”

How much he improved from Tennessee’s first scrimmage to the second, how key that was in him winning the job 

“Definitely felt more comfortable. Going out there and running it completely live was different, running a practice is like kind of different than going to scrimmage and game-time speed. So definitely got a better grasp of it the second week of camp. I was in there spending more time in film and trying to get all the keys, details of plays and certain reads and the specifics like that.” 

If anything surprised him about Tennessee’s offense once he started running it in camp 

“I would say the only thing that I really had to adjust to was just the tempo of the offense. I was, somewhat in 2023, I wouldn’t say tempo as this, but we were like pretty on the ball, just not as fast. So just getting used to getting the signal and lining up and going through my progressions was just the adjustment I had to make.”

If he told himself a year ago that he would be Tennessee’s starting quarterback, what his reaction would be 

“If you would tell me that in 2021, 2022, I probably would not believe it because I was in JUCO at that time, looking at players at this level, like, dang, that’s crazy, I wish I was there. And here I am. I just got to thank Jesus for giving me the opportunity to be here.” 

How hard it was to not quit when he was trying to get through JUCO football and climb the ladder

“It was hard. Everything isnot easy, but I just stayed faithful to Jesus. I have a tattoo on my ribs, Proverbs 3, 5-6, trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean only not your understandings, but always submit to him. So that kept me going and a lot. My family just supported me and my friends really getting my back to play JUCO and supporting me and helping me throughout that time. And it was fun. I wouldn’t go back and would want to change my journey at al. JUCO was an amazing time, coaches were great, people were great, and my friends and family helped me a lot.”

How his current situation compares to the goals he set for himself earlier in his career

Yeah, it’s crazy. Because before I went JUCO I wanted to be a fireman. So I was like, I might as well start. COVID happened and football was kind of done in the JUCO level. So I was like, if I’m going to do that, I might as well just start my career, start taking classes for that. And then when football came back around, came back into it. Just to see how my life shifted in just a short time of just people like, saying, like, yo, come play, just one more time. Give it one more shot. So it’s kind of crazy to see how.”

How this week has changed after being named the starter

“No, it doesn’t change. You know, I got to go out there and attack every day like if I’m not because those guys are competitors themselves, so they’re coming in here to work, and you never know, something can happen that those guys go in. It happened to me at App State, so I’m going in there to compete still every day.”

If he has completed a deep pass yet

“We got a couple out there going, so it feels good. It feels good. I got some.”

Who he has connected with on a deep pass so far

“I connected with Chris (Brazzell) when he came back. Mike (Matthews) got one. Amari (Jefferson) got one. I think I connected with RaRa (Radarious Jackson), too. A little bit of everybody, honestly.”

Practicing with the projected starting receivers

“It feels good. I mean, when I got here in the summer, I was building connection with them before they were out. But it’s good to have them back, get them back going and have all the guys healthy.”

If he could’ve handled the UCLA transfer if he didn’t play JUCO

“I would say my life growing up through JUCO definitely helped shape who I was. I was somewhat of a different person. Probably would have had a different approach. Not sure how I would have approached that situation if it happened, but I would say JUCO and just the transition to App State and adjusting into that environment helped me, just see things through easier.”

Having a head coach that used to play quarterback

“It’s awesome. You know, that whole quarterback room is great. They kind of get a different perspective through everybody. You know, if you ask a question, you get the same answer or just a different perspective of what they see and how they see through plays and progressions. So it’s kind of cool that they all pretty much play the position and can give an insight with everything.”

Telling his mom he won the job

“It was great. I kind of, it was Sunday night, so I kind of shot them a text and they wanted to stay up, but I was tired, so I just fell asleep, but caught them the next day. It was awesome. They were super excited.”

Earning the trust of teammates, his upbringing

“I grew up working for everything that I got. You know, my dad always told me to be grateful and to be humble. My mom as well. So coming in here, trust takes time to build. You can’t force somebody to trust you. And so, I mean, I’m just a nonchalant kind of guy. So I’m not trying to come in here and tell everybody, like, yeah, you got to trust me. I’m your guy. So, you know, I just slowly connect with people here and there. Go grab some food, hang out, just have a conversation with everybody. Not even just like a main guy. I would say, like, you gotta build trust with every single person on your team whether they play or not. So I think my biggest key with JUCO and going to App State, connecting with those types of people and like a team quickly helped me understand how to connect with different types of people.”

The reaction of his teammates to him being the starter

“They were super happy and I think they would be happy for anybody that got the job, though.”

Showing people what he can do

“You know, I’m excited. I’m especially excited to run out that T though. And I haven’t been to a Tennessee game in my life, so that’s one check mark I can mark off my list.”