UCLA football transfer Joey Aguilar may have lost his starting job in Westwood, and in general, for the 2025 season. Following Nico Iamaleava’s Bruins decision, taking away the job Aguilar left Appalachian State for, the Tennessee QB1 role reportedly isn’t a shoo-in for him either.
CBS Sports’ Cameron Salerno tabs Jake Merklinger as a legitimate option to win the starting job on Rocky Top.
“Even with Aguilar coming in via the transfer portal, there is no guarantee the UCLA transfer will win the starting job. One name to keep an eye on heading into fall camp will be Merklinger, a former top-250 recruit from the 2024 recruiting cycle. Merklinger committed to Tennessee out of high school over Arkansas, Auburn and Boston College,” Salerno wrote.
“He made two appearances during the 2024 season. Merklinger completed 6 of 9 attempts for 48 yards combined against Kent State and Chattanooga.
“Tennessee also has another four-star quarterback coming into the program in George MacIntyre, who ranked as the 17th overall quarterback in his recruiting class, per 247Sports. Merklinger has, at minimum, a chance of winning the backup job. With Iamaleava leaving, the door is open for someone like Merklinger to make an impact.”
Opinions on Merklinger wildly vary.
While Salerno was high on the Savannah, Georgia native, Saturday Down South’s Ethan Stone claimed Vols coach Josh Heupel “can hardly afford” to name Merklinger the starter.
“Nico Iamaleava is out the door, despite the Vols coaching staff advancing through spring practice with the working assumption that he would be Tennessee’s starter at the most important position in the sport. In past years, without the transfer portal being what it is today, Tennessee would probably throw its hands up and turn to redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger. But Year 5 Heupel can hardly afford to do that in today’s NIL landscape. You’d better believe fans will be calling for his job if Heupel sits on his hands as Tennessee finishes 7-5 or worse,” Stone wrote.
“Is all that fair? Maybe not. But it’s the brutal world college football players, coaches, administrators and fans live in.”
There’s an easy takeaway from all of this:
Things are wide open at QB for UT.