It feels like anybody can come back to play college football nowadays.
That’s the case for Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Joey Aguilar, at least. He sued the NCAA to try to get a sixth year of eligibility — saying that his time at the JUCO level shouldn’t count against him — and he was granted a temporary restraining order on Wednesday that very well could allow him to play in 2026.
Aguilar first entered the college ranks in 2019 at City College of San Francisco. If the TRO holds up and the NCAA can’t enforce eligibility rules against him, he’ll technically be a college quarterback heading into his eighth year. (He redshirted in 2019 at CCSF and the 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19.)
On Wednesday, Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall was speaking about the situation brewing at Tennessee, and he joked that perhaps the Gators should find a way to bring back one of their great quarterbacks.
“We’re going to file a temporary restraining order to bring back Tim Tebow,” Sumrall said, according to Thomas Goldkamp of On3. “I don’t know what the hell is going on with all of that. We’ll see if Tebow gets his years back.”
It seems crazy, but that’s where we’re at in college football in 2026.
There’s money to be made, so players who may or may not have a future in the NFL are trying to find ways to stick around.
Joey Aguilar, Diego Pavia and the JUCO eligibility question
For quarterbacks like Aguilar and Diego Pavia over at Vanderbilt, the argument is that their time at the JUCO level essentially robbed them of opportunities to make money via NIL deals. Junior college football is governed by a separate organization, so the idea is that these players didn’t spend their NCAA eligibility at those schools.
“We’re not saying the NCAA can’t have eligibility requirements,” said Ryan Downton, Pavia’s attorney, in December (h/t ESPN). “But a junior college season shouldn’t be the equivalent of an NCAA season when the junior college season has no meaningful opportunities to earn NIL, no television exposure. They take other athletes [who are playing somewhere outside of high school] and don’t hold those seasons against them.”
If that’s the logic, then there’s absolutely a case to be made for both Aguilar and Pavia.
Unfortunately for the Gators, especially as they look to replace DJ Lagway in 2026, there’ probably isn’t a loophole that would allow them to bring Tebow back.
Not yet, at least.
