"This is a movie": CFB fans in sheer disbelief as Joey Aguilar pulls off crazy swap to Nico Iamaleava's former school

UCLA Bruins and Tennessee Volunteers exchanged quarterbacks during this spring transfer portal. Nico Iamaleava, who was seeking $4 million in NIL compensation, decided to enter the transfer portal after the Vols didn't accept his demand for a 75% raise from a $2.4 million annual payout.

As soon as Iamaleava joined the Bruins through the transfer portal, it resulted in an exit from quarterback Joey Aguilar, who had transferred to UCLA ahead of spring practice following two clinical seasons with Appalachian State.

This swap of quarterbacks got the fans talking and one user found it straight out of the movies.

"This is a movie. 😭," one fan said.

"This would be the funniest thing," another fan added.

"Did someone forget to tell Tennessee and UCLA that everyone was kidding when they said just trade quarterbacks?" one fan asked.

"No way," one fan wrote.

"The true hilarious irony is Joey Aguilar is going to do well at Tennessee and Nico won’t win 6 games. 😂🤣" one fan decided to have fun at the cost of former Vols QB.

Aftermath of QB exchange: What the 2025 season holds for Nico Iamaleava and Joey Aguilar?

According to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, Nico Iamaleava is set to earn far less at UCLA than what he was earning at Tennessee. Not only that, the Vols were a national attention-grabbing college, as they are always a lock for the CFB playoffs. Meanwhile, under coach DeShaun Foster, the Bruins finished the 2024 season with a 5-7 record and are not a threat in the CFB playoffs.

So it will be fair to say that not only has Iamaleava lost money, but also has taken a hit by joining a far less competitive school.

On the other hand, Joey Aguilar, who wasn't offered from Division I program out of high school, leading him to play two years at the JUCO level at Diablo Valley College, is coming off two great seasons with Appalachian State, which saw him passing for 6,760 yards and 56 touchdowns during that span.

However, just because he is replacing Nico Iamaleava doesn't guarantee him a QB1 spot. The Vols also have Jake Merklinger and George MacIntyre in their QB room.

Merklinger will hope for a fair chance from coach Jon Heupel to at least keep the QB1 spot open for contention and let either of Aguilar or Merklinger earn it fair and square.