Report: Joey Aguilar pivots pursuit of extra eligibility, sues NCAA in Knoxville court

Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar is continuing his pursuit of an extra season of college football – and a return to the Vols – in 2026, but he is now pivoting his legal strategy in doing so. After hiring his own attorney and removing himself as a plaintiff in the Diego Pavia lawsuit attempting to strike down junior college seasons from counting toward NCAA eligibility, Aguilar filed a separate lawsuit in Knox County Chancery Court, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported on Monday afternoon. Aguilar previously attached himself to the Vanderbilt quarterback’s case in November as his productive season as Tennessee’s starter neared its conclusion, but is now blazing his own path.

Aguilar’s pivot is presumably aimed at improving his chances of a successful ruling, be it a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction, and getting one quickly.

The location change is notable given it follows similar efforts from other SEC athletes going the state/local route for their legal actions rather than federal courts. Alabama basketball brought back G-League forward Charles Bediako and added him to its current team in midseason after a favorable ruling by a Tuscaloosa County judge. Star Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, after having an NCAA waiver denied trying to get a year back for a medical redshirt at Ferris State in 2022, sued college sports’ governing body in Lafayette County, Miss., where Oxford and the Ole Miss campus are located.

The Pavia case in federal court in Nashville is heading toward a February 10 preliminary injunction hearing in front of the same judge (William L. Campbell Jr.) who just denied an injunction in another NCAA eligibility case, one that centered on redshirt rules and sought to give all players five years of eligibility. The Pavia case won an injunction in December 2024 that led to the NCAA issuing a blanket waiver that made all junior college football players eligible for the 2025 season.

That’s how Aguilar was able to play at Tennessee to begin with. He played two seasons at Diablo Valley Community College in his native California followed by two seasons at Appalachian State. After the Pavia injunction and subsequent NCAA ruling granted him an extra year, he first transferred to UCLA in one portal window before connecting with Tennessee months later after the Vols and starter Nico Iamaleava had a messy public split.

Pavia is moving on from Vanderbilt, but his attorneys are continuing the legal quest to eliminate junior college seasons from counting toward NCAA eligibility, which would give Aguilar – who has played three seasons at the FBS level despite graduating high school in 2019 – one more season to play.

He theoretically still could benefit from the Pavia case even if he’s longer a plaintiff in it, but the shift in legal strategy opens another door to getting another season and perhaps improves his chances of that outcome.

The Knoxville News Sentinel reported last week that Aguilar had hired Cam Norris as his representation. The attorney previously represented President Donald Trump in a case and also was part of the state of Tennessee’s successful lawsuit against the NCAA over its NIL rules in 2024. Norris represented the states of Tennessee and Virginia as they sued the NCAA over its NIL investigation into the Vols and their recruitment of Iamaleava.

The states won the injunction after a hearing in federal court in Greeneville, Tenn., that prohibited the NCAA from enforcing its own NIL rules.

Aguilar was granted a voluntary dismissal as a plaintiff in the Pavia case on Friday, and now he will blaze his own path toward what he hopes is another season of college football, presumably at Tennessee – he hasn’t said publicly that’s what he would do, but he also didn’t enter the transfer portal during the January window to keep his options open of playing anywhere else as his legal situation played out.

In 13 starts for the Vols in 2025, Aguilar completed 272 of 404 passes for 3,565 yards with 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions and added 101 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground. He led the SEC in passing during the regular season. For the entire season, Aguilar finished second in the SEC – behind Pavia and ahead of Chambliss – in passer rating.

Click here to read article