Joey Aguilar, the highly acclaimed quarterback for the University of Tennessee, has initiated a legal battle against the NCAA to secure his eligibility for the upcoming 2026 football season. His lawsuit contends that the NCAA's current regulations, which incorporate junior college participation into a player's eligibility clock, are unjust. Should Aguilar prevail in court, he anticipates a lucrative Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) agreement, potentially reaching $2 million. This development underscores the growing complexities surrounding athlete compensation and eligibility in collegiate sports, particularly as players explore legal avenues to extend their careers and maximize their earning potential.
Quarterback Joey Aguilar Pursues Legal Action for 2026 Eligibility and Enhanced NIL Deal
In a significant legal development unfolding in February 2026, Tennessee's star quarterback, Joey Aguilar, 24, has filed a lawsuit in Knox County Chancery Court against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The suit seeks a temporary restraining order, and ultimately a permanent injunction, to overturn the NCAA's ruling that he has exhausted his playing eligibility. Crucially, the legal filing, obtained by Knox News, reveals that if Aguilar's request for relief from the NCAA's junior college rule is granted, the University of Tennessee has a roster spot awaiting him for the 2026 season, where he would be welcomed back as the starting quarterback. This would also lead to a substantial increase in his NIL compensation, with an estimated earning of $2 million, nearly double his 2025 earnings of over $1 million.
Aguilar's journey to this point has been unconventional, beginning as a junior college walk-on. After redshirting at City College of San Francisco in 2019 and having his 2020 season canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he played two seasons at Diablo Valley College in 2021-22. His NCAA career officially commenced in 2023 at Appalachian State, followed by a brief stint at UCLA in spring 2025, before transferring to Tennessee. In his lone season at Tennessee in 2025, Aguilar exceeded all expectations, leading the Southeastern Conference (SEC) with 3,565 passing yards and 24 touchdown passes, marking the third-highest single-season passing yardage in UT history. His exceptional performance has made his potential return invaluable to the Volunteers, especially given the team's current roster of promising but inexperienced young quarterbacks, including redshirt freshman George MacIntyre, five-star freshman Faizon Brandon, and transfer Ryan Staub.
The lawsuit specifically targets the NCAA's policy of counting junior college seasons towards a player's four seasons of competition within a five-year period, even though junior colleges are not under NCAA jurisdiction. Aguilar's legal team argues that only seasons spent at NCAA-member institutions should factor into eligibility, effectively seeking an additional year of play. This challenge comes at a time when Tennessee actively sought established transfer quarterbacks, including Brendan Sorbsby, Sam Leavitt, and Beau Pribula, to compensate for Aguilar's assumed ineligibility, with potential NIL costs for such players ranging from $3 million to $6 million. Aguilar's return would therefore represent a significant financial advantage for the program, offering a proven talent at a comparatively lower NIL valuation of around $2 million.
This ongoing legal battle underscores the dynamic and often contentious relationship between collegiate athletics' traditional regulatory frameworks and the burgeoning commercial landscape of NIL opportunities. As student-athletes increasingly assert their rights and leverage their market value, the NCAA faces mounting pressure to adapt its long-standing rules to reflect the evolving realities of modern college sports. The outcome of Aguilar's lawsuit could set a significant precedent, potentially reshaping how junior college athletes are treated under NCAA eligibility guidelines and further influencing the burgeoning NIL market.