Urban Meyer offers pessimistic outlook for Joey Aguilar stepping up to SEC level

While Tennessee fans are hoping to see a storybook season unfold in Knoxville with transfer quarterback Joey Aguilar as the main character, former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer isn’t holding his breath. On Wednesday’s episode of The Triple Option, Meyer revealed his expectations for Aguilar next season.

“I went and watched Aguilar because I wanted to familiarize myself,” Meyer said. “I love [Appalachian] State. But the reality is, you’re stepping in the SEC. So everybody’s at least a step, maybe at most positions, two steps faster. And when you have 24 interceptions, that’s about one per game, that’s way too many.

“The windows, just are so much tighter [in the SEC]. I will go back on record again, saying Tennessee is screwed. Now, you can get unscrewed real fast if that team develops, but as of May, we’re in the get screwed category.”

Aguilar transferred to UCLA in December after spending two seasons at Appalachian State. However, he opted to enter the transfer portal after the Bruins signed former Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava. Iamaleava likely would’ve started over Aguilar next season.

Now, Aguilar is simply swapping places with Iamaleava and will look to have even more success at Tennessee than his predecessor. In his two seasons at Appalachian State, Aguilar amassed 6,760 passing yards and 56 touchdowns while throwing 24 interceptions.

In the ground game, Aguilar recorded 456 total rushing yards and five scores. His 3,757 passing yards in the 2023 campaign are the most in a single season in program history. He also shattered the record for passing touchdowns (33) in a single season that year.

Nonetheless, Urban Meyer isn’t convinced that Joey Aguilar’s success with the Mountaineers will translate to the SEC. In fairness, Meyer knows a thing or two about QBs. The legendary head coach mentored QB1s such as Tim Tebow and JT Barrett throughout his career.

Tennessee fans can only hope to see Aguilar prove Meyer wrong. No matter what happens this fall, it appears that Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel is tired of discussing the drama around the Iamaleava-Aguilar swap.

“At the end of the day, that’s just the landscape. You’re not going to keep everybody,” Heupel said. “You have opportunities to put your roster together. I feel like we’ve got a team that’s accountable and connected, works hard, competes hard, and we’re built to win. Now we’ve got to go earn it every single day.

“And we have some new pieces that we have to get on-boarded here in the course of May, that’s the nature of college football. So we’ll get ready and keep competing and keep growing.”