{"id":324951,"date":"2025-08-28T21:01:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T21:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/324951\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T21:01:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T21:01:13","slug":"what-joey-aguilars-vols-teammates-said-about-him-after-being-named-starting-quarterback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/324951\/","title":{"rendered":"What Joey Aguilar’s Vols Teammates Said About Him After Being Named Starting Quarterback"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\"Joey<\/p>\n

<\/a>Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar. Photo via @vol_football on Instagram.<\/p>\n

Tennessee football is under 48 hours from getting its season started against Syracuse in Atlanta. When the Vols take the first offensive snap of the game, it\u2019ll be Joey Aguilar at quarterback after Josh Heupel named him UT\u2019s starter two weeks from the opener.<\/p>\n

Since he was named the starter, the media have met with multiple of Aguilar\u2019s teammates. The group fielded questions on what the signal caller brings to the table.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what they said.<\/p>\n

More From RTI:\u00a0I Simulated Tennessee-Syracuse on the College Football 26 Video Game<\/a>
\nTE \u2013 Ethan Davis<\/p>\n

On Joey Aguilar\u2019s approach to fall camp<\/p>\n

\u201cHis approach, he came in, he wasn\u2019t all ra-ra this is my program now. He did it the right way, the correct way. He paid his dues. He came in, he worked, he showed the work. Ultimately, he produced on the field, which led to him winning that spot.\u201d<\/p>\n

On how Joey Aguilar built trust on the team as a spring transfer<\/p>\n

\u201cHe put effort in getting to know everybody. Me, Miles (Kitselman) and Joey had dinner numerous times. Me and Joey had dinner with the pastor at Heart and Soul Church a few weeks ago. Doing the extra stuff, the little things that he really doesn\u2019t have to do. He\u2019s going out of his way to do that. I feel like that\u2019s the most \u2014 let me get to know my teammates outside of football, outside the facility.\u201d<\/p>\n

On if it was easy to tell Joey Aguilar was sincere in wanting to connect with the team<\/p>\n

\u201c100%. Just the people he hangs around, how he carries himself, his maturity level, how he speaks. It\u2019s easy to tell he\u2019s a genuine person. Everybody on this team knows that.\u201d<\/p>\n

LB \u2013 Arion Carter<\/p>\n

On Joey Aguilar\u2019s decision-making<\/p>\n

\u201cJust seeing him be a good game manager for us and being able to go out there and control the ball. Feeling confident with the ball in his hands. Make decisive throws. Really be a good leader for us overall and on the offense has been great to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

On how the team has responded to Joey Aguilar\u2019s leadership<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been great. We took him around our wing the first time he got here. Just him growing into that starting role and being able to be a leader for us, not only on offense but collectively also as a leader on the team, has been great to see. Especially with guys like me and the other leadership council rallying around him. He\u2019s been doing really, really great.\u201d<\/p>\n

LB \u2013 Jeremiah Telander<\/p>\n

On how excited he is to see Joey Aguilar do his thing<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait. Joey is such a great guy and he has such a great story. I know that we\u2019re going to get everything that he has. It\u2019s his last year to play football. Because it\u2019s his last year, he\u2019s going to get everything that I have. I can\u2019t wait. It\u2019s going to be so much fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

On what he appreciates about Joey Aguilar\u2019s leadership<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no cockiness with him. He loves everybody. Just because he\u2019s QB1, he doesn\u2019t act a certain type of way. The way that him and Jake (Merklinger) battled, it\u2019s not like they were envious of each other or anything like that. They truly made each other better and that\u2019s how it has to work. Like I said earlier, you have to prepare like you\u2019re the starter, anything can happen. Joey has done such a great job of building relationships one-on-one with the whole team. That\u2019s a lot of people on the team, but he\u2019s done a tremendous job at that.\u201d<\/p>\n

RB DeSean Bishop<\/p>\n

On lining up next to Joey Aguilar in the backfield<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother blessing. Me and Joey have connected really well since I believe he stepped on campus. Got to throw with him earlier, got to work with him on hand-off mesh and stuff like that. It\u2019s been a blessing to work with him and I\u2019m looking forward to seeing how he helps us this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

WR Mike Matthews<\/p>\n

On what he\u2019s seen out of Joey Aguilar as a leader and quarterback<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say when he first got here, he wasn\u2019t nervous or scared. He was real opened up and he was trying to get to know his teammates. I really knock him for that one. Really, just building his chemistry. You\u2019re not going to be cool with everybody in one day, but he took his time and now we\u2019re developed and he earned his spot.\u201d<\/p>\n

On how he would describe Joey Aguilar as a quarterback<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know, man. He\u2019s Joey. I feel like I can\u2019t really explain how he is. He\u2019s a good quarterback.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Joey Aguilar targeting multiple receivers in practice<\/p>\n

\u201cI see it all the time in practice, but like I said before, it can really be all three. It\u2019s truly three really good quarterbacks. It just so happened that he earned the spot but I feel like everybody in this quarterback room is good.\u201d<\/p>\n

OL Lance Heard<\/p>\n

On what he\u2019s learned about Joey Aguilar<\/p>\n

\u201cJoey is quiet, man, but he\u2019s cool. I think that he\u2019s a good player, but we\u2019ll see it Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar. Photo via @vol_football on Instagram. Tennessee football is under 48 hours from getting its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[7,20707,1209,6364],"class_list":{"0":"post-324951","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-joey-aguilar","10":"tag-tennessee-football","11":"tag-tennessee-vols"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115108412469116946","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}