Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar has filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in Knox County Chancery Court, per Adam Sparks of the Knoxville News Sentinel. Aguilar, who transferred to the Vols before the 2025 season, is seeking to extend his eligibility for an additional season.

“After a breakout season as the Volunteers’ quarterback in 2025, the NCAA is blocking Aguilar from playing a fourth year of Division I football – depriving Tennessee of a gifted quarterback and robbing Aguilar of millions in compensation,” Aguilar’s complaint says.

SUBSCRIBE to the On3 NIL and Sports Business Newsletter

Aguilar played his fifth season of college football this past season. However, the first two were spent at the junior college level. He played for Diablo Valley Community College in central California before transferring to Appalachian State for his first two seasons of Division I college football.

He’d end up with the Volunteers in 2025, and is now seeking a fourth season at the D-I level. If he wins the suit and is granted an extra year of eligibility, 2026 would be Aguilar’s his sixth season overall.

The news of the lawsuit comes days after Aguilar was granted a voluntary dismissal as a plaintiff in the Diego Pavia eligibility lawsuit. He had previously joined the suit as a plaintiff in November. If he had not been voluntarily dismissed, Aguilar and 25 other student-athletes were set to see their date in court on Feb. 10th through an extension of Pavia’s lawsuit.

Sparks had previously reported that Aguilar had hired his own lawyer last month separate from Pavia’s. He brought in Cam Norris, a Knoxville resident, who represented President Donald Trump in 2022 when he was a candidate before the U.S. Supreme Court.

During his lone season so far at Tennessee, Aguilar helped lead Tennessee to an 8-5 finish in 2025. He finished the season with 3,565 passing yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He added four more touchdowns on the ground. His passing yards total was good for 12th best in the country this past season.

Before he arrived in Knoxville, he played 25 games for Appalachian State. There, he logged 6,760 yards, 56 touchdowns and 24 interceptions over 25 appearances.Â