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Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar sues NCAA in Knoxville court for eligibility
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- Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar sues NCAA in Knoxville court for eligibility
Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar has filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in Knox County Chancery Court, seeking to extend his eligibility and play for the Vols in the 2026 season.
On Feb. 2, Knox News obtained the complaint filed in Knox County Court.
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"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.
Aguilar, 24, initially is seeking a temporary restraining order against the NCAA, whose rules say he has exhausted his eligibility. Ultimately, he wants an injunction that would allow him to play for Tennessee in the 2026 season.
The court decision could have a significant impact on Tennessee's 2026 football season.
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In 2025, Aguilar led the SEC with 3,565 passing yards, the third most in a single season in UT history, along with 24 TD passes. If he returned in 2026, he'd remain the Vols' starter.
According to the complaint, Tennessee football has a spot available on the 2026 roster for Aguilar, as well as access to NIL money for the quarterback.
"If the Court granted Aguilar relief from the NCAA's JUCO rule in the near term, Tennessee has a spot for him on the roster and would welcome him back," the complaint says. "His compensation for playing college football in 2026 would be approximately $2 million."
Tennessee failed to land a premier starting quarterback in the transfer portal. If Aguilar remains ineligible, redshirt freshman George MacIntyre , five-star freshman Faizon Brandon and Colorado transfer Ryan Staub will compete for the starting job in the 2026 season.
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Aguilar's attorney, Cam Norris , is asking for a quick resolution.
"Aguilar needs relief now, to know whether he should report to spring practice or prepare for the NFL draft," the complaint says.
The move is no surprise after Aguilar hired a high-powered attorney and separated from the Diego Pavia federal lawsuit , which challenges the NCAA's eligibility rules regarding former junior college players.
Why Joey Aguilar thinks the NCAA should extend his eligibility
Former junior college players have tried to change NCAA eligibility rules with unique legal arguments.
Pavia, the former Vanderbilt quarterback, filed the antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA in late 2024, and Aguilar joined as a plaintiff in November 2025. On Jan. 30, the court granted Aguilar's voluntary dismissal from the Pavia case, but the Tennessee quarterback is vying for the same outcome.
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The NCAA allows players to compete for four seasons within five years. And it counts junior college seasons toward that total and time period even though junior colleges are not part of the NCAA.
These lawsuits seek to change the eligibility rules so junior college competition wouldn't factor into NCAA seasons of eligibility or an athlete's eligibility clock. Only seasons at an NCAA institution would count as part of NCAA eligibility.
That means Aguilar, who started his career in junior college, would get one more season to play. He already has spent seven years in college football, but only three seasons at NCAA member schools.
In 2019, Aguilar redshirted at City College of San Francisco. In 2020, the COVID pandemic canceled his junior college season there. In 2021-22, he played two junior college seasons at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, California.
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His NCAA career began in 2023 when he played at Appalachian State. He transferred to UCLA for spring 2025, and then transferred to Tennessee in essentially a quarterback swap involving Nico Iamaleava.
Aguilar's strategy follows Charles Bediako, Trinidad Chambliss
Aguilar is taking his case to a Knox County court "because the cause of action arose here, where Aguilar played football, seeks to play to play football again, and suffers injuries from the NCAA's unlawful conduct," according to the complaint.
Taking the NCAA to court at a local level has been a popular strategy in recent high-profile cases where athletes are trying to regain or extend their college eligibility.
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On Jan. 21, the Tuscaloosa Circuit Court in Alabama granted 23-year-old NBA G League player Charles Bediako a temporary restraining order to return to college basketball. He is now an active player for University of Alabama and awaiting a preliminary injunction hearing on Feb. 6.
Trinidad Chambliss , the 23-year-old Ole Miss quarterback, filed his eligibility lawsuit against the NCAA in Calhoun County Circuit Court in Mississippi. Chambliss is seeking to prove that he should be granted a medical hardship waiver for his 2022 season at Ferris State.
Chambliss' motion for a preliminary injunction will be heard Feb. 12. If successful, he would be eligible to play college football in the 2026 season.
Aguilar's legal argument is quite different from Bediako and Chambliss. But Aguilar likely stands a better chance of victory in a Tennessee state court than federal, and he perhaps could still benefit from the Pavia case.
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How Joey Aguilar could still win in Diego Pavia case
Aguilar is no longer a plaintiff in the Pavia case, but the ruling could impact his eligibility.
A hearing is scheduled in Nashville for Feb. 10, when Judge William Campbell will consider a preliminary injunction halting NCAA rules regarding former junior college players.
On Jan. 15, Campbell denied a request for a preliminary injunction in a similar case, where college football players sought to play a fifth season. They were challenging the NCAA redshirt rule, which allows an athlete to compete in four seasons over five years.
Pavia, who initially filed the lawsuit regarding junior college players, will not return to college next season, even if his case is successful. He has declared for the 2026 NFL Draft. However, 25 additional players remain as plaintiffs.
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If the Pavia case fails, Aguilar would not be bound by its ruling. Therefore, he could still be successful in state court.
If the Pavia case succeeds, Aguilar would not gain eligibility immediately because he's no longer a plaintiff. However, language of a preliminary injunction presumably would be broad enough for Pavia to file a federal action in the same court that would have the effect of a class action suit, applying to former junior college players with the same fact pattern as Pavia. That would include Aguilar.
What happens if Aguilar becomes eligible for 2026 season?
If Aguilar regains his eligibility in court, the process could take only a few days or weeks.
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"(Aguilar) cannot wait much longer to know whether he is eligible to play college football in 2026," his complaint says. "If the answer is no, he must turn his full attention to preparing for the NFL draft, a detailed process that takes months of preparation. And if the answer is yes, Aguilar needs to be throwing with his receivers, joining spring practice in March, and otherwise preparing to be the starting quarterback for a major SEC football program."
Tennessee starts spring practice in mid-March, although the opening date hasn't been announced. Aguilar is expected to be in recovery through late February, following a Jan. 2 surgery to remove a benign tumor on his arm , NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported.
Aguilar is not enrolled at UT. However, the university offers a mini-session, giving students the option to cram a course into a condensed time frame during a half-semester. That session runs from March 18 to May 7.
Knox News investigative reporter Tyler Whetstone contributed to this report. Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com . X, formerly known as Twitter @AdamSparks . Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe .
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Joey Aguilar: Tennessee football QB sues NCAA in Knoxville court for eligibility
