NCAA Breaks Silence on Joey Aguilar’s Injunction—What This Could Mean for Tennessee Football Revealed

So, Tennessee’s former quarterback Joey Aguilar tried to press the reset button on his college career clock by suing the NCAA for an extra year of football eligibility — and got slammed with a denial this past Friday. It’s a fascinating showdown, really, because Aguilar’s argument hinges on only counting his three years playing at the Division I FBS level, even though he’s been grinding it out in college football for seven seasons total. The NCAA, not missing a beat, issued a statement lauding the judge’s decision and doubled down on their commitment to “fair competition” while promising to keep tweaking benefits for players. Makes you wonder: how do you strike the right balance between opportunity and maintaining a level playing field? Meanwhile, with other players pushing similar claims following Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia’s lead, this eligibility saga is far from over — and college football’s landscape could soon look very different. LEARN MORE.

Former Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar filed a lawsuit against the NCAA seeking an additional year of college football eligibility, which was denied by a judge on Friday. The NCAA has since issued an official statement thanking the court for the decision.

The association thanked the deciding judge for upholding its “fair competition” policies to protect its student-athletes. It also vowed to continue “making changes to deliver more benefits” to the athletes to create a more agreeable environment.

“The NCAA is thankful for the judge’s decision today which demonstrates the court’s consideration of eligibility standards and protecting access to the collegiate experience for current and future student-athletes,” the statement read, via Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger. “We will continue to defend the NCAA’s eligibility rules against attempts to circumvent foundational policies and hinder fair competition to all student-athletes. The NCAA is making changes to deliver more benefits to student-athletes and will continue to work with Congress to provide stability for all college athletes.”

NCAA statement on the Joey Aguilar decision pic.twitter.com/C3EVwc0bEa

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) February 20, 2026

Aguilar’s push for an additional year of eligibility was based on the claim that he had played only three years at the Division I FBS level. The 24-year-old has spent the last seven years playing college football, but his first four seasons were in junior college.

After two years at Appalachian State, Aguilar threw for 3,565 passing yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions with the Volunteers in 2025. Tennessee has been banking on his potential return for the 2026 college football season, only recruiting one quarterback, ex-Colorado starter Ryan Staub, in the transfer portal.

Several other players are pushing the same clause after Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia initiated a wide-scale lawsuit in 2025. Pavia gained an additional year out of it and continues to lead the effort in court while preparing for the 2026 NFL Draft.

The post NCAA releases statement on Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar’s preliminary injunction appeared first on ClutchPoints.