Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar Tackles Fourth Offense in 28 Months

#1
dduncan4163

dduncan4163

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MSN

"Joey Aguilar has worn several helmets and learned even more playbooks over the past two and a half years. But now, as he arrives in Knoxville, the real test begins—mastering Josh Heupel’s fast-paced, signal-heavy offense with hands-on reps and live action.

Aguilar is adapting to his fourth offensive system in 28 months, a stretch that began when he left Diablo Valley Community College for Appalachian State in January 2023. After two successful seasons in Boone, he transferred to UCLA in January 2025, only to pivot again—this time heading to Tennessee in May. While he participated in spring ball with the Bruins and studied Tennessee’s offensive install remotely, nothing replaces in-person experience."



Have a question for yall. Compared to others Is Heups system easier or harder for QBs to pick up? I would imagine it's easier but I'm no coach. What yall think?
 
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#9
#9
In response to your question...

A phrase we often hear from 2nd-year starters is "I'm understanding the concepts better." I think that means they were able to play the year before because they had "memorized" the plays, formations, blocking assignments, etc.

But understanding the concepts behind those details evidently speeds up their on-field processing (necessary to the success of this offense) and allows them to deal correctly with defensive schemes that may appear new to them. Understanding the concepts will lead them intuitively to the correct read or decision, despite the details being novel.

So "mastering" this offense seems to be accomplished in layers, both mentally in the position room and on the field, as read & react times become more efficient while they're being ported into muscle memory.

I think that's why Heupel's ideal would be to have a QB learn the offense and the position demands (at this level) for 2 years, earn opportunities to develop field-presence in his 3rd year, then lay out his NFL resume in his 4th season (redshirt Jr. year).

:) IMHO.
 
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#12
#12
vol94fan said:
Joey will be a back-up QB unless somebody gets hurt. He will have plenty of time to learn the playbook.
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Joey is a one and done guy. His eligibility is this yr unless he redshirts and he didn't come here to do that. As other posters have predicted he will start. I predict he and Merk will get reps during the 1st game and that's it for Merk.
 
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#13
#13
I think since he is more experienced he should be able to get a handle on it better than a true freshman or maybe even a RS freshman. Experience reading defenses, reading what the WR is doing, etc is critical. He just needs reps. I am not sure if he can have individual "practice time" away from the coaches to work with the WRs, but if that is allowed I would hope they all take advantage and get as much familiarity as possible. Just running routes and catching passes will be huge. The WRs also have to get a feel for how he throws the ball, velocity, placement, etc.
 
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#16
#16
I'm not convinced we are going to have just 1 QB this year. I don't think Joey will be ready to start the season and Merk and Mac are not ready for prime time. I could see all 3 splitting time against the cupcakes and then have the strongest one start against the SEC. I think that this is out of pure necessity, not desire. Joey will be heavily favored but if he throws picks, he'll get yanked.
 
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#17
#17
FlyFishnVol said:
At least one will leave in 2026 regardless.
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I think that's a guarantee. In the NIL era, here's no justification for sitting on the bench for UT making bench rider money when you can jump to another school and get starter money. Overall, I think the days of top schools hording talent are coming to an end. Having five 4-5* players in the depth chart for the same position are over. A guy making $300k sitting on the bench at Georgia could be making $700k starting for OK, etc.
 
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#19
#19
kell7517 said:
If Joey is named the starter. Either Merk or Mac will
Be gone. IMO.
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Why ? Merk and GMac are being paid close to 1 mill for the year .. what school will pay someone to come in this late and pay the amount ? They can easily move once the season is over .. however, even then Joey would be done so it would make sense to stay here and compete rather than a new school ...
 
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#20
#20
volmandu said:
Why ? Merk and GMac are being paid close to 1 mill for the year .. what school will pay someone to come in this late and pay the amount ? They can easily move once the season is over .. however, even then Joey would be done so it would make sense to stay here and compete rather than a new school ...
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Agreed. Plus, Merk will be getting a higher percentage of snaps in practice this summer than he would have had Nico stayed. GMac's quality and quantity of practice and play time will be exactly what he anticipated before Nico left.

In fact, GMac will probably enjoy the added bonus of hearing Merk and Halzle bringing Joey up to speed. Joey, coming from his unique experiences with different offenses, will be asking different questions than they or Nico would have--which always brings more light to a subject. More learning will occur in the QB room this summer because Joey is there.

The biggest setback this summer will be with the receivers (a group from which we need young, new receivers to rise sooner than usual), as they will have to learn how to anticipate and catch passes from 2-3 different QBs (advantage: Merk).

Likewise, for GMac and Joey, they will have to learn and sync with every receiver in the room, as the competition among receivers for playing time runs top-to-bottom there.
 
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#21
#21
dduncan4163 said:
MSN

"Joey Aguilar has worn several helmets and learned even more playbooks over the past two and a half years. But now, as he arrives in Knoxville, the real test begins—mastering Josh Heupel’s fast-paced, signal-heavy offense with hands-on reps and live action.

Aguilar is adapting to his fourth offensive system in 28 months, a stretch that began when he left Diablo Valley Community College for Appalachian State in January 2023. After two successful seasons in Boone, he transferred to UCLA in January 2025, only to pivot again—this time heading to Tennessee in May. While he participated in spring ball with the Bruins and studied Tennessee’s offensive install remotely, nothing replaces in-person experience."



Have a question for yall. Compared to others Is Heups system easier or harder for QBs to pick up? I would imagine it's easier but I'm no coach. What yall think?
Click to expand...
It's timing to avoid false starts, get used to the receivers, etc which will be the problem for Joey.

You get 6yds on 1st down with a run, then false start and you're 2nd and 11. You throw a little slant, but your timing is off a little and it's behind the receiver or hit another run for 6yds and you're at 3rd and 5 or 3rd and 11.

QBs and the O Line need reps, more reps, and more reps. QBs and receivers need the timing for quick and tight window throws to be really good and that's reps and knowing what your receiver can do for you.

For efficient execution, Linemen need to be comfortable with the QB cadence and the QB and receivers need to be dialed in with each other.

How quickly will they come together? Who knows but it is far, far from optimal to have a QB arrive on campus in mid May and start in late September.

Watch the pre snap penalties and throws that are just a little off when we play Syracuse. It'll get better but will it get SEC level better? It better.
 
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#22
#22
SayUWantAreVOLution said:
It's timing to avoid false starts, get used to the receivers, etc which will be the problem for Joey.

You get 6yds on 1st down with a run, then false start and you're 2nd and 11. You throw a little slant, but your timing is off a little and it's behind the receiver or hit another run for 6yds and you're at 3rd and 5 or 3rd and 11.

QBs and the O Line need reps, more reps, and more reps. QBs and receivers need the timing for quick and tight window throws to be really good and that's reps and knowing what your receiver can do for you.

For efficient execution, Linemen need to be comfortable with the QB cadence and the QB and receivers need to be dialed in with each other.

How quickly will they come together? Who knows but it is far, far from optimal to have a QB arrive on campus in mid May and start in late September.

Watch the pre snap penalties and throws that are just a little off when we play Syracuse. It'll get better but will it get SEC level better? It better.
Click to expand...
Appreciate the response
 
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