Joey Aguilar Eligibility Discussion

[Unconditional Surrender]

Even with the coaching of CJH, Joey threw twice as many ints as the redshirt freshman the year before. Idk why so many people are in love with a 24 year old who led us to a 4 loss regular season.

Because he scored a lot of points.

 

[brockytop]

Seeing differing opinions about if we want him to return. Would love a space to hear all the thought processes.
For me, I'm of the opinion that it's time for him to move on. I love him as a guy, and he very well may give us the best chance to win (although debatable). BUT it sets a bad precedent. And I know the rules are already being bent and everything, but isn't this what we made fun of Pavia for last season? It's college sports. We don't need 25 year olds playing. The future of the program would be better off anyway with GMac. I'm not willing to put the future of the program on hold because Joey wants one last ride. That's just me. I understand the other side as well. Will be happy either way.

“We made fun of Pavia…” Boy, that certainly worked out really well for ya, didn’t it?

 

[Carp]

There is no debate. If he gets cleared, he would be the best QB on the roster until proven otherwise. You don't lead the SEC in passing during the regular season and then lose your job to an unproven redshirt freshman.

 

[Carp]

Even with the coaching of CJH, Joey threw twice as many ints as the redshirt freshman the year before. Idk why so many people are in love with a 24 year old who led us to a 4 loss regular season.

1. He threw a lot more passes. So obviously you would expect more Ints from someone that throws the ball more. That is just math.

2. At least 4 of those Int's were because the intended WR/TE (mostly MK) either failed to catch the ball on a very catchable pass or the WR fell down on the route.

3. At least 3 of the losses were not remotely his fault. The defense was one of the worst units in the country the entire season and we had a kicker that folded under pressure. If we had just an average defense and kicker that was reliable, we beat UGA and OU without a doubt. And Bama and Vandy would certainly have been winnable games.

You could put 2022 Hooker on this team last year and we aren't beating Vandy. Our defense had no answer for Pavia the entire game.

 

[Tin Man]

Can’t y’all make your points without mentioning the Vanderbilt loss? That one still stings quite a bit.

 

[DaddyChad]

Doesn’t a tipped ball sometimes mean it was thrown too low?

Sometimes.

 

[sjt18]

None of those answers fit me but at the end of the day... let's go with the best we've got.

 

[S.C. OrangeMan]

That doesn't mean anything now. All he has to do is take it to court, right? The transfer portal is a mechanism that restricts his ability to conduct trade and artificially prevents him from providing his services to other interested parties. It harms his ability to be compensated. Seems as easy as any of the other dozens of lawsuits thrown at the NCAA. Especially since he can say "I made a decision based on circumstances when the portal was open, and Tennessee was able to change its roster situation outside the portal window. I should be able to do the same." So take it to the court, which loves ripping up the NCAA, and let them rip it up a little further.

If he believes in himself, I have to think he'll look at the situation and say "I'm hurting my ability to earn money by sitting on this bench and not showing what I can do."

I'm not too sure about that. It doesn't restrict his ability. It just sets a window for when the move can happen.

 

[TheVolsFrog]

Doesn’t a tipped ball sometimes mean it was thrown too low?

I think in this case he's talking about balls that hit the WR/TE hands and the ball popped up in the air.
Tip Drill
With todays stats I think those need to be listed in their own category and not part of the Int stat on the QB

 

[goldvol]

Dude chose Tennessee when we needed him. He learned a system in 2 months and played outstanding through the year. I questioned the level of potential early last year, and he blew me away with a top 10 all-time Tennessee QB performance. He also had zero off-field or character issues. Not sure what else you guys want in a QB?

 

[feathersax]

Can’t y’all make your points without mentioning the Vanderbilt loss? That one still stings quite a bit.

THIS. One more thing: it's 'vandie'. Show contempt where it's due.

 

[GAVol]

Even with the coaching of CJH, Joey threw twice as many ints as the redshirt freshman the year before. Idk why so many people are in love with a 24 year old who led us to a 4 loss regular season.

Because he’s a known quantity and people know while he may not take over games, he’s good enough to give us a shot if we play a little defense.

 

[superdave1984]

I want the best QB1 that gives us the best chance of winning. However, we also have to look at the future. Brandon is not coming to Tennessee looking to sit for 2 years. I believe he expects to start after this season or he is gone. GMac may be great, Brandon may be even better. What will happen is Heupel will start the guy he thinks is best and the rest of us will cheer and complain as the situation warrants. Without binding contracts that say you will be here x number of seasons, it is still an unregulated situation where guys just go where they are offered the most money/playing time combo. I doubt we see freshmen come in and stay for 4-5 years at the same school maybe ever again.

 

[Tin Man]

THIS. One more thing: it's 'vandie'. Show contempt where it's due.

Kybos

 

[savannahfan]

Seeing differing opinions about if we want him to return. Would love a space to hear all the thought processes.
For me, I'm of the opinion that it's time for him to move on. I love him as a guy, and he very well may give us the best chance to win (although debatable). BUT it sets a bad precedent. And I know the rules are already being bent and everything, but isn't this what we made fun of Pavia for last season? It's college sports. We don't need 25 year olds playing. The future of the program would be better off anyway with GMac. I'm not willing to put the future of the program on hold because Joey wants one last ride. That's just me. I understand the other side as well. Will be happy either way.

To the first sentence - or a shadow of what it was. To the second - I for one (likely the only one) am tired of these Australian guys even older than 25 being allowed to play as kickers. You never hear what they might have played back home. What is the average age of a high school grad age person graduating from college on schedule? Give college players one extra year over this and tell them to move on afterward.

 

[RockyTop140]

I want him back. At the end of the day he came in and showed he can run the offense well. It’s one less question mark heading into the season and I think it’s important we have a good year this upcoming season

 

[aRmo]

I understand both sides of the fence on this one. Personally, it was always supposed to be a 1 and done type of thing with JA. I dont like what this is doing to College football.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

To the first sentence - or a shadow of what it was. To the second - I for one (likely the only one) am tired of these Australian guys even older than 25 being allowed to play as kickers. You never hear what they might have played back home. What is the average age of a high school grad age person graduating from college on schedule? Give college players one extra year over this and tell them to move on afterward.

So if a kid joins the Marines out of high school, does 4 years and then comes back to school, he shouldn't be able to play college ball if he wishes?

If a Mormon kid does a mission, then college, he shouldn't be able to play?

If a kid's family needed him for a couple of years before he could start school, he shouldn't be able to play?

 

[volmanjr]

Doesn’t a tipped ball sometimes mean it was thrown too low?

Not always, sometimes the defense just makes a play

 

[a vol n tears]

At this time the poll is surprising to me.
46% want Joey back above any other player on the roster at any cost
25% don’t care
17% ready to move on
remainder that college sports is cooked

 

[CINCYVOL]

Maybe GMac and his family will take the Ty Simpson route as they are both football families

 

[sjt18]

At this time the poll is surprising to me.
46% want Joey back above any other player on the roster at any cost
25% don’t care
17% ready to move on
remainder that college sports is cooked

Actually, I "care".

I want him to be able to come back and believe it would be ultimately GOOD for college football if guys could play 2 years in JUCO followed by 4 at the NCAA level. Two years to mature and learn to be a student without facing much more developed athletes. Four years to either prove yourself worthy of the draft or to complete a degree. I see absolutely NO downside to the precedent this would create.

 

[peerless98]

It's not an issue except for the "backup QB is always better folks".

The QB that gives us the best chance to win will start. If JA does get another year, that is more than likely him. You don't sit a QB that has his stats / experience on the bench.

Folks would literally call for CJH's job if he started GMAC with a healthy JA on the bench and the losses started piling up.

True, and that's kind of my point. For the folks that say GMAC is better, then let him prove it against JA. We have to play to win now, nothing is guaranteed in future seasons with anyone in the QB room.

 

[tennesseeduke]

Seeing differing opinions about if we want him to return. Would love a space to hear all the thought processes.
For me, I'm of the opinion that it's time for him to move on. I love him as a guy, and he very well may give us the best chance to win (although debatable). BUT it sets a bad precedent. And I know the rules are already being bent and everything, but isn't this what we made fun of Pavia for last season? It's college sports. We don't need 25 year olds playing. The future of the program would be better off anyway with GMac. I'm not willing to put the future of the program on hold because Joey wants one last ride. That's just me. I understand the other side as well. Will be happy either way.

I marked I want him back however but I don’t it’s going to happen. He was the leading passer in the SEC plus depth. That’s all a good thing that makes the team better!

 

[LAVol1]

Joey starting all season in 2026 will be detrimental to our Title chances after. I love Joey Swag...but him playing at UT this year is NOT good for our program over the next 3 critical years.

Even if JA gets the starting job, I could see Heupel playing GMac a lot to get him ready for next season and giving him incentive to stay in the program. There is no downside to not playing JA like he did last season, playing almost every meaningful snap b/c JA has no leverage. If he doesn't play GMac much, he risks losing him. Winning this year does help the program, keeping our recruiting momentum going, and if starting JA for most of the season gives us the most competitive team, then he should start every game. "Just win, baby".