The Tennessee Volunteers made headlines throughout the college football offseason regarding their quarterback situation. Nico Iamaleava spent last year as Tennessee’s starting quarterback but transferred to the UCLA Bruins before the season. The Volunteers replaced Iamaleava with graduate transfer Joey Aguilar, who came from UCLA.

This quarterback swap marked what many people named the first “trade” in college football history. With major name, image and likeness (NIL) disputes between Iamaleava and Tennessee, he decided to leave, while Aguilar jumped at the opportunity to replace Iamaleava.

On Wednesday, Aguilar’s father, Jose, spoke about the “trade,” while taking a shot at Iamaleava.

Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar after the Aflac Kickoff Game against the Syracuse Orange.© Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“We don’t have any problems with Nico. If anything, it’s thank you,” Aguilar’s father said to On3’s Pete Nakos. “I think it’s clear who won the trade. Look at the fans and the stats. Everything happens for a reason.”

Through the first two games of the 2025 season, it seems like he is right. Tennessee is ranked No. 15 in the country in the AP Top 25 and is 2-0. As for Iamaleava and UCLA, they have started the season 0-2 after considerable preseason hype.

Aguilar has been incredible in his first two games in Tennessee orange, completing 66.1% of his passes for 535 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions. He and head coach Josh Heupel have gotten Tennessee off to a hot start.

Iamaleava, on the other hand, has struggled getting acclimated to UCLA’s offense. He has completed 63.5% of his passes for 391 yards and two touchdowns with a pair of interceptions thus far. Head coach DeShaun Foster and UCLA are 0-2 after losses to the Utah Utes and UNLV Rebels.

While it is still early in the season, Tennessee seems to have gotten the upper hand in the quarterback swap with UCLA.

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Sep 10, 2025, where it first appeared in the College section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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