NIL
Joey Aguilar, Josh Heupel can validate decisions against Georgia
Tennessee football quarterback Joey Aguilar on playing in front of his grandmother
Tennessee football quarterback Joey Aguilar talks about playing in front of his family, including his 82-year-old grandmother.
- Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar faces a defining game against Georgia after a tumultuous offseason for the Vols.
- Former Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava transferred to UCLA after a reported NIL dispute, leading the Vols to add Aguilar from the transfer portal.
- A win for Aguilar and Tennessee could be seen as a victory for coaches against player empowerment, yet it also highlights the benefits of the transfer portal.
There are undeniable crossroads every college football season, defining moments where change arrives when least expected.
Welcome to Joey Aguilar’s line in the sand.
For himself and for Tennessee. And for every college football coach desperate to gain some semblance of control in a rapidly-changing sport overtaken by player empowerment.
“(Georgia’s) another team on the schedule that we have to go play,” Aguilar said last weekend after Tennessee disposed of East Tennessee State.
But it’s so much more than that. More than beating SEC king Georgia on Saturday in Knoxville, more than Tennessee making an early statement in a conference race with no clear leader.
This is the moment where Aguilar – who has thrived financially and with upward mobility through newfound player empowerment – takes a stand against the current state of college football. Or against players gaming the system.
Which, of course, he did, too.
If this is all confusing, let me take you back to April, and a mere 48 hours before the opening of the spring transfer portal. It was then that former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava decided to use leverage to gain financial advantage.
He wanted more money from Tennessee, or he was entering the transfer portal — and leaving the Vols with an inexperienced quarterback room and slim pickings from the portal. Tennessee coach Josh Heupel told Iamaleava goodbye, and said he’d find another quarterback that could win.
No player, Heupel said, is bigger than the team.
Then Iamaleava transferred to UCLA, and in true transfer portal fashion, Aguilar – who months earlier transferred from Appalachian State to UCLA – got more money to transfer again to Tennessee. Hence, the juxtaposition.
By playing well and beating Georgia, Aguilar supports the theory that no player is good enough to leverage a program. There’s always another proverbial bus arriving at the station.
But by playing well and beating Georgia, Aguilar also underscores the need and beauty of the portal: the right player with the right coach means everything.
Think about that concept. If Tennessee wins, it’s a victory for coaches in the rapidly-evolving player empowerment era. And if Tennessee wins, it’s essentially a victory for the very same thing — without the fanfare that comes with it.
Because without the transfer portal and free player movement and millions upon millions in private NIL money changing hands every season, the Vols are preparing to play the Death Star of college football with a slingshot after Iamaleava’s departure.
That brings us all the way back to Iamaleava, and a scene dripping with karma. UCLA is winless after two weeks, with ugly performances against Utah and UNLV — where Iamaleava had as many touchdown passes (two) as interceptions.
Meanwhile, there is Aguilar. He and the Vols have played an easier schedule, and Aguilar has looked the part. He’s accurate, he throws on time, he’s athletic enough to stress defenses as a willing runner.
And sonofagun, can he throw the deep ball. The same throw Iamaleava missed so many times last season, in so many moments where the offense needed it.
Aguilar is averaging 9.1 yards per attempt; Iamaleava is at 7.8 — exactly where he was last season at Tennessee when the biggest criticism was a lack of vertical throws. Aguilar is also averaging 13.7 yards per completion.
“He’s got great arm talent,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said of Aguilar. “He’s had some really well-thrown balls, a couple they’ve dropped in crucial times. A really good deep ball passer.”
But Aguilar making it look easy against Syracuse and East Tennessee State is completely different from doing it against what could be the best defense in college football at pressuring the quarterback. Don’t let Georgia’s measly three quarterback sacks fool you.
No one in college football pressures the quarterback, forces quick decisions and errant throws and game-changing mistakes, quite like the Georgia defense.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Exhibit A.
“It’s just going out there and trusting my guys,” Aguilar said. “And playing how we play.”
Sounds simple enough. Then again, it sounded simple to Quinn and Arch, too.
But there’s much more on the line this time around, at any number of levels. The game within the game could change the way coaches deal with high-value quarterbacks moving forward.
Deep into Tennessee’s rout of ETSU last weekend, Heupel called timeout to talk with freshman backup quarterback George MacIntyre. Instead of hanging on the bench or laughing with teammates long after he was replaced, Aguilar stood in the huddle with Heupel and offered encouragement for MacIntyre.
“Great teammate,” Heupel said. “That’s who he has been from the time he got here, developing relationships as he was first onboarding into our program. That’s important leadership.”
As important as the statement, the leadership, Aguilar could make for the rest of college football. No player is bigger than the team.
Unless he becomes bigger and better than the guy before him.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
Updated Dec. 22, 2025, 10:57 p.m. ET
Quarterback Nico Iamaleava is returning to UCLA football for a second season to play under new coach Bob Chesney, the team announced Dec. 22.
The former Tennessee quarterback had transferred to UCLA in April. The Bruins went 3-9 this past season, during which DeShaun Foster was fired after an 0-3 start.
Iamaleava completed 64.4% of his passes for 1,928 yards and 13 touchdowns, with seven interceptions in 11 games. He also rushed for 505 yards and four touchdowns. He did not play at Ohio State in November due to a concussion.
Nico Iamaleava spent two seasons with Tennessee football before exit
Iamaleava played 18 games in two seasons at Tennessee, and started all 13 games during UT’s College Football Playoff run in 2024.
The QB threw for 2,616 yards with 19 touchdowns and five interceptions in 2024, but was less efficient in SEC play. He threw nine touchdowns in eight conference games, but four of those were against Vanderbilt in the regular-season finale.
In his UT career, he completed 241 of 379 passes for 2,930 yards with 21 touchdowns and five interceptions. He redshirted in 2023 behind starter Joe Milton.
Why did Nico Iamaleava and Tennessee football split?
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel informed the Vols that Iamaleava was no longer a member of the team prior to the April 12 spring game, ending the relationship between UT and Iamaleava amid an apparent NIL dispute.
Iamaleava skipped the Vols’ final spring practice on April 11, the morning after On3’s Pete Nakos reported ongoing negotiations between Iamaleava and UT. His NIL deal reportedly paid him more than $2 million per year.
ESPN’s Chris Low, citing sources, reported that Iamaleava’s representatives wanted his NIL pay increased to $4 million per year. The family used the possibility of him entering the transfer portal as leverage.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
Dec. 23, 2025, 5:35 a.m. ET
If you watched any part of Ole Miss’ 41-10 blowout of Tulane, the one common theme you felt was that the absence of former head coach Lane “Benedict” Kiffin was not acknowledged by the home fans; they even appeared to embrace it. It took a while for Rebel Nation to realize it but Kiffin simply was never “one of them” and, while he built the program, he did not measure up to the “Ole Miss family.” Most Rebel fans would probably tell you now they’d rather lose without him than win with him. Kiffin has now been fully exposed and St. Nick (Saban, now known as Mr. Hypocrite) and Pete Carroll, his self-proclaimed advisers, should be ashamed for their comments supporting the manner in which he tried to negotiate his way to both coaching one team and recruiting for another simultaneously. One is the GOAT who ran away from NIL and the transfer portal while the other is a recognized cheater by many. The best part is Kiffin’s LSU Tigers play at Mississippi next year. Good riddance!
Dec. 23, 2025, 6:07 a.m. ET
Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham says he was never offered the Michigan job. Never got to that point.
This, of course, isn’t the story nor the takeaway from Dillingham’s dalliance with the Wolverines.
The irony of the state of Arizona’s highest-paid public employee begging for private donations to compete at the highest level of college football is where this bizarre story begins.
“We live in Phoenix, Arizona. You’re telling me there’s not one person who could stroke a $20 million check right now?” Dillingham said after agreeing to a new contract worth more than $37 million over the next five years.
That’s right, the guy whose future could never be more secure, sees the immediate horizon line for the Arizona State football program. And frankly, it’s financially unstable at best — and a house of cards at worst.
It’s Arizona State today, but could be Kansas State or Colorado or North Carolina State or Virginia Tech or Boise State — or any of the other 100-plus Bowl Subdivision teams not protected by the golden parachute of the Big Ten and SEC.
Coaches at those 34 schools in the two big conferences — many of those institutions born on third base from long-term association with the leagues before the financial boom of television media rights — aren’t publicly calling out dignitaries and alums associated with their schools.
They’re not standing during a media availability and pleading for the next Cody Campbell to please step up. Or else.
Dillingham made it very clear that college football is about those who wish to spend money, and those who don’t. This isn’t about revenue sharing between schools and players, this is all about private NIL funding.
This is about the dirty underbelly of the sport that can’t be legally controlled. A growing vice that doubles and triples the obstacles faced by conferences chasing the Big Ten and SEC.
It’s bad enough that mega media rights deals give the Big Ten and SEC a huge competitive advantage over the rest of college football. It’s downright sinister that those same schools have deep pocket boosters willing to spend tens of millions in private NIL deals to eliminate all doubt.
Sam Leavitt led Arizona State to the Big 12 title and the College Football Playoff in 2024, and returned to Tempe this season for another run. A foot injury ended his season early, and now he’s headed to the transfer portal looking for a new home.
Not because he doesn’t think he can win big with the Sun Devils — he already proved that. He’s in the portal, like so many other players, to strike when its hot and score a deal before moving onto the NFL.
What are the odds he signs with a Big Ten or SEC school? A program which has boosters that can pay him an outrageous salary through a private NIL deal.
Do you really blame Leavitt?
Do you really blame Campbell, Texas Tech’s billionaire booster, who built a championship-level team with a $25 million roster — and the Red Raiders responded by winning the Big 12 and earning a first round bye in the CFP?
They’re just following the rules, and until a different set of rules is in place, they’ll take advantage of it.
That’s why Dillingham sounded like a panhandler last weekend, begging — literally begging someone, anyone, in The Valley to jump on board and throw money at the program. He even specifically called out school alums Phil Mickelson and Jon Rahm.
Hey, Kenny, while you’re at it, why not place a call to the sheiks in Saudi Arabia? See if their Public Investment Fund (PIF) is interested in sports washing with the second-most popular sport in America.
Because if you’re reaching out to Mickelson and Rahm, you’re reaching out to the Saudis — who own LIV Golf — by proxy. The only difference between the PIF and Utah’s new $500 million agreement with Otro Capital is one group of investors has a long line of human rights violations.
The other is a financial shark, whose only goal is to make money.
Any way they can.
“College football is absolutely chaotic right now,” Dillingham said. “You’ve got to be able to have a plan to be aggressive in this thing for three, four, five years down the road. If you don’t have that, you’re a ticking time bomb for failure.”
This nonsense isn’t going to end until players are considered employees, and players collectively bargain their best deal. Until FBS conferences go to market as one, and sell their games to make double or more than the current market value of $4 billion-plus annually.
That move will allow universities to restrict player movement through multi-year contracts, and find a fair and equitable postseason for all. One that doesn’t include charity for the Group of Five conferences, who have no business in a playoff unless invited based on merit (see: Boise State, 2024).
But that move also means players would go from earning about 20 percent of media rights revenue to likely 45-50 percent. NFL players currently make 48 percent of the media rights.
That’s why the Big Ten and SEC don’t want players collectively bargaining. It has nothing to do with the pollyanna idea sold by conference commissioners that players, “don’t want to be employees.”
If they’re going to earn 20 percent, who wants to deal with the headache of collectively bargaining? Move that number to 45-50 percent, and watch how many players say they’re all in.
Then maybe their coaches wouldn’t have to shamelessly beg for cash, mere hours after signing a new $37 million dollar contract. Or else.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
As Indiana prepares to host its first-ever College Football Playoff game as the No. 1 seed, the Hoosiers are quietly already planning for 2026.
Fernando Mendoza, a redshirt junior transfer who led the Hoosiers to a 13-0 regular season, won the 2025 Heisman Trophy after throwing 2,980 yards and a national-best 33 passing TDs and is widely seen as an early NFL first-round prospect.
Should Mendoza depart for the draft, Indiana would be tasked with replacing an elite, NFL-caliber starter, which explains why numerous quarterbacks expected to enter the transfer portal have been linked to the Hoosiers.
On a December 20 episode of “Hoosiers Football Tailgate,” host Coach Griff specifically named TCU quarterback Josh Hoover, who announced he will enter the transfer portal and skip the Alamo Bowl, as a name Indiana should watch.
“I like this guy as a definite target for Indiana,” Griff said. “So, Josh Hoover, keep an eye on him as a potential target… The one I think they’ll really try to get is Hoover.”
Hoover was a three-star recruit out of Rockwall-Heath (Texas) and initially committed to Indiana in 2021 before flipping to TCU after the school extended an offer.
He then redshirted in 2022 and became the starter in 2023, producing breakout numbers in 2024 with 3,949 passing yards, 27 passing touchdowns, and 11 interceptions with a 66.5% completion rate.
In 2025, Hoover threw for 3,472 yards and 29 TDs, with 13 INTs, and projects among the most productive returning QBs in 2026 on career totals of 9,629 passing yards, 80 total TDs, and a career passer rating of 147.8.
On3’s NIL valuations list also shows Hoover ranking among the most marketable college quarterbacks, with a valuation in the neighborhood of $2.1 million.
Hoover is an intriguing option for Indiana due to his proven production and Power Five experience, positioning him as a potential one-year, plug-and-play solution as Curt Cignetti prioritizes continuity.
There is also a “full-circle” aspect to his recruitment, as Hoover originally committed to Indiana before flipping to TCU in 2021.
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Two teams that have really embraced the NIL era are set to meet on New Year’s Day. Oregon‘s win over James Madison advanced them to the College Football Playoff quarterfinals, where Texas Tech was waiting on the other side. Now, it’s Dan Lanning vs. Joey McGuire in the Orange Bowl with a lot of resources put into rosters.
Oregon has been at the forefront of NIL since its inception, especially under Lanning. Texas Tech could be considered the new kid on the block after major investment from a few donors. Even so, McGuire sees some similarities between the two when it comes to winning at whatever cost.
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“They’ve got a great booster in Phil Knight that really said, ‘We’re going to go win at the highest level and there’s no excuse when it comes to finance.’ You turn around and I think that we’re showing that we’re doing that. I think we’re really comparable,” McGuire said.
“We’ve got guys that have stepped up and done a great job. I kind of call them the ‘Big Five’ whenever you talk about Cody and John, Mike, Dusty, and Gary. Those guys have, along with everybody else in Red Raider Nation, but those guys have really led the charge. So, we’re kind of comparable on and off the field in this team. They’ve just done it for a little bit longer. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
As he said, McGuire is looking to put together a run similar to Oregon. All four years since hiring Lanning have been a resounding success, finishing with double-digit wins in all of them. This is the program’s second College Football Playoff appearance in the 12-team format, just missing out in 2023 due to a Pac-12 Championship loss.
Oregon won the Big Ten in its inaugural season inside the conference. Texas Tech can check that box already though, winning the Big 12 for the first time in school history. Advancing in the CFP would be a sweet bonus.
No matter the result on Jan. 1, Texas Tech is positioning itself to be successful moving forward. The 2026 recruiting class ranked 20th in the country but No. 1 in the Big 12 per the Rivals Industry Team Rankings. This is all before raiding the NCAA transfer portal, something McGuire and his staff did so well with last offseason.
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