The college football transfer portal market is crucial to recruiting nowadays. Oftentimes, landing a talented player from the portal can help you win more games from one season to the next.
That's even more true for transfer portal quarterbacks. Two guys who entered the portal this offseason and essentially traded teams are Joey Aguilar and Nico Iamaleava. Aguilar transferred from UCLA to Tennessee, and Iamaleava went from the Vols to the Bruins.
It's almost as if the two teams just traded quarterbacks. So who won the transfer "trade?" Let's take a look at both guys' stats through the first two weeks.
More: Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar's path from Diablo Valley to Rocky Top
Joey Aguilar stats 2025
| Season | Team | G | Cmp | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Y/A | Rush Yds |
| 2025 | Tennessee | 2 | 39 | 66.1 | 535 | 5 | 0 | 9.1 | 34 |
So far, Aguilar has been playing lights out through two games. In Tennessee's Week 1 game against Syracuse, he finished with 247 yards passing with three touchdowns. One of his best throws was a 73-yard touchdown to Braylon Staley:
I still can’t stop thinking about this Joey Aguilar bomb to Braylon Staley.
— Garrett Armbrust (@4thandsaturday) September 1, 2025
The QB fit is so perfect. He made great decisions all game.
Tennessee still has an 11 win ceiling and if they beat Alabama will be in the CFP once again.
Beautiful ball.
pic.twitter.com/ZBvRucSy0U
He added another 34 yards on the ground, as well.
“I thought he was good in his decision-making, communication,” Heupel said of Aguilar after the game. “I said that after the football game. Super calm. I thought he used his feet at the right moments. Great demeanor throughout the course of the game. A lot to really like from it.”
During Tennessee's 72-17 rout of East Tennessee State in Week 2, Aguilar finished with 288 yards passing with two touchdowns. One of his touchdowns went 54 yards, and he showed a nice ability to stay alive in the pocket on the throw:
Joey “Aaron Rodgers” Aguilar pic.twitter.com/8ycrCHEoXa
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) September 6, 2025
After Tennessee was up 48-7 in the third quarter, Aguilar was taken out of the game for backup Jake Merklinger. Aguilar will face his biggest test this week, going up against the Georgia Bulldogs at home on Saturday.
Nico Iamaleava stats 2025
| Season | Team | G | Cmp | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Rush Yds | Rush TD |
| 2025 | UCLA | 3 | 62 | 63.9 | 608 | 3 | 3 | 139 | 1 |
Nico Iamaleava's UCLA career cannot have gotten off to a worse start.
The Bruins are 0-3, and it might have hit rock bottom on September 12 when they were destroyed by New Mexico — who they paid $1.25 million to host — 35-10. Iamaleava was 22-for-34 passing with 217 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
The Nico Iamaleava transfer already had to be one of the worst ROIs on a deal in history
— Sebastian Fearon DPT, CSCS, OCS (@TheDegenDoc) September 13, 2025
Add $1.25 Million for paying New Mexico to come into the Rose Bowl & beat you by FOUR SCORES 😮💨
Say a prayer for UCLA fans tonight pic.twitter.com/h2ViuUAnJp
UCLA has been outscored 108-43 through three games, and next up is a Big Ten slate filled with tough games.
With Friday night's 35-10 loss to New Mexico, UCLA and new quarterback Nico Iamaleava are now (0-3) to start the season.
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) September 13, 2025
Is it fair to ask if the Bruins will win a game? pic.twitter.com/FYyF7hWNlt
Why did Nico Iamaleava leave Tennessee?
Iamaleava's transfer from Tennessee was reportedly over a dispute concerning his NIL deal with the Vols. As Tennessee was in the middle of spring practices, the quarterback was reportedly trying to re-negotiate his NIL deal with the school. He was also reaching out to other schools like Miami, Ole Miss and Oregon to gauge their interest.
Although Vols head coach Josh Heupel had smoothed things over with Iamaleava to return for 2025, things came to a head when the quarterback missed Tennessee's final spring practice on April 11. The practice was just one day before the Vols' annual spring game. As coaches and teammates attempted to reach Iamaleava, they were met with silence.
"As the day went on, it started to become obvious. He was gone and wasn't coming back," a Tennessee source told ESPN.
The Athletic first reported in 2022 that Iamaleava's initial NIL deal with Tennessee was believed to be a multi-year contract worth $8 million. Iamaleava was a former 5-star quarterback recruit from the class of 2023, and was the No. 2 overall signal-caller in his class per 247Sports.
"I want to thank him for everything he's done since he's gotten here, as a recruit and who he was as a player and how he competed inside the building," Heupel said after the spring game. "Obviously, we're moving forward as a program without him. I said it to the guys today. There's no one that's bigger than the Power T. That includes me."
On April 20, Iamaleava transferred to UCLA, and reportedly was making less in NIL than his initial deal with Tennessee.
Why did Joey Aguilar leave UCLA?
One day after Iamaleava announced he was joining the Bruins, Aguilar hit the portal. Although he had just transferred to UCLA in late December, he decided to move on from the Bruins after UCLA had seemingly committed to Iamaleava as their quarterback.
Who is winning the UCLA-Tennessee QB trade?
Obviously it's early in the season, so it may be a bit too early to assess which team is the outright winner just yet. But early on, Tennessee is winning so far—the Vols offense is humming with Aguilar under center. Tennessee is also 2-0, and looks to have a real shot at defeating Georgia for the first time since 2016 on Saturday.
UCLA is 0-2, the Bruins offense ranks 91st nationally in passing yards per game, and head coach Deshaun Foster's days in Los Angeles look to be potentially numbered. Early on, the Vols appear to be winning.
"In hindsight, we're good," a Tennessee source said via CBS Sports of the Iamaleava-Aguilar swap. "(If someone said), 'Would you do this all over?' I think everybody would be like, 'We got Joey? He is who he is here? We're fine.'