The Tennessee football team is gearing up for a summer of improvement as they prepare for the grueling gauntlet that the SEC consistently presents. Just last season, the Vols reached their first College Football Playoff appearance, but the result was disappointing, as Ohio State ran them out of Columbus.
This upcoming season will feature a new quarterback under center after Nico Iamaleava transferred following a messy exit that shocked the college football world. However, Tennessee quickly found a replacement in UCLA transfer Joey Aguilar, who has the potential to outperform Iamaleava statistically.
“While overall records aren't always attributed to quarterback play, there is one statistic in particular that could deviate Aguilar and Iamaleava's seasons. Should he throw for 3,000 yards and 20 or more touchdowns this season, Aguilar's 2025 season would statistically be better than Iamaleava's. The quarterback surpassed this mark in each of his two seasons at Appalachian State,” Sports Illustrated’s Christian Kirby wrote.
Landing Aguilar has made Tennessee one of the winners of the spring transfer portal. He is expected to start, entering his final year of eligibility.
However, it's another quarterback—Diego Pavia—who has stirred the pot by calling out the Tennessee football program. Pavia boldly claimed that Vanderbilt is on the verge of becoming the state's dominant team.
“Vanderbilt is going to run Tennessee after this year. This is going to be the new staple of college football. It's going to happen here at Vanderbilt,” Pavia said.
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That’s a bold statement from someone coming off a 6-6 season. Vanderbilt has long been considered the "little brother" in Tennessee, and that kind of perception doesn’t change overnight. Still, Pavia believes one season is all it will take.
Last year, Vanderbilt fell to Tennessee after holding an early 14-0 lead. With this being Pavia’s final year of collegiate football, he has one last shot to put Vanderbilt on the map—or risk his words being just that: words.