The University of Tennessee and Vanderbilt University have played 118 football games in a rivalry dating back to 1892. They have witnessed just about everything possible on the field over the 133-year span. This season, however, will provide a consequential milestone.
For the first time in the rivalry’s history, both teams will have Hispanic starting quarterbacks. Tennessee’s Joey Aguilar and Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia will be going head-to-head when the Vols host the Commodores Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CST at Neyland Stadium in the final game of the regular season.
“I think it’s amazing for every Hispanic quarterback and every Hispanic player that is at this level,” says Aguilar’s mother, Lydia. “I think it’s a good thing for both schools and both the boys. That’s a big deal for both of them, because of who they are, where they’re coming from and what their background is.”
Aguilar, whose father is Mexican and mother is Puerto Rican, is believed to be the second starting quarterback of Hispanic heritage to play at UT. Steve Alatorre was the starting quarterback for the Vols in 1980-81. Pavia, a Mexican American, is believed to be the first regular starting quarterback of Hispanic heritage to play at Vanderbilt.
Aguilar and Pavia were both recognized on the inaugural 2025 Hispanic College Football Player of the Year Award watch list that was released in October.
“It’s awesome. Hispanic quarterbacks – there aren’t many out there,” Aguilar told “Our Esquina” last year when he was playing for Appalachian State. “To go out there and represent is amazing. Especially for the younger kids seeing a Hispanic quarterback and they’re Hispanic as well. Growing up they can be like, ‘Dang, that’s awesome. I want to be like that one day.’”
Taking the long road
Aguilar and Pavia have traveled similar paths. The fifth-year seniors were lightly recruited coming out of high school and took the junior college route in their respective home states of California and New Mexico. Both joined mid-major Division I programs before eventually transferring to SEC programs in Tennessee.
Last week, Aguilar became a new plaintiff in Pavia’s lawsuit against the NCAA challenging the rules that limit a player’s eligibility after attending a junior college.
The ascendance of Aguilar and Pavia is one of several impressive storylines this season involving Hispanic players across the country. Pavia, Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza and Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez have all been mentioned in the Heisman Trophy conversation.
Carlos Lopez, who does play-by-play for the Spanish-language radio broadcast of UT football games, couldn’t have imagined how the stars would align for him to be calling a UT-Vandy rivalry game with two Hispanic quarterbacks on the field.
Lopez, the creator of “Vamos Vols,” a platform dedicated to highlighting the Hispanic sports community in East Tennessee, called his first football game in Spanish for UT in 2023. The experience was such a success that UT made the broadcast a permanent fixture for every game beginning last season.
“To have two Hispanic quarterbacks that have done something incredible for the game is going to be very special,” says Lopez, a former kicker at Carson-Newman University and Middle Tennessee State University. “What Diego Pavia has done at Vanderbilt and what Joey Aguilar has done here at Tennessee, it has been nothing but embracing a culture that has been in the United States for centuries and now it kind of feels that the hard work is paying off.”
Aguilar’s parents began discussing the importance of his cultural heritage with Aguilar when he was just beginning his long journey in football.
“He’s appreciative. He feels grateful that he’s able to represent both of his cultures,” Lydia Aguilar says. “He’s kind of that role model for younger kids who are Hispanic who want to play any sport. It means a lot because of where all these Hispanic cultures have come from and what they’ve had to deal with.”
Historic home finale
Aguilar stays true to his roots whenever he gets the chance to sample some tastes from home, especially his grandmother’s sopa de salchichon (salami soup).
“That’s his favorite Puerto Rican dish that my mom makes,” Lydia Aguilar says. “But if you tell him, ‘let’s go eat Mexican,’ he always wants to get tacos. That’s what it’s always about. Find a nice taco truck down the street on the corner. He’ll eat some tacos.”
Aguilar’s family will be in the stands Saturday for likely his final game at Neyland Stadium. Although Aguilar only spent one season at UT, his relatives have felt embraced by the Vols community since he arrived in May. Having Aguilar’s first and only rivalry game against Vanderbilt feature another Hispanic starting quarterback will make the day even more memorable.
“As a mom in general, having my son being in college and playing at this level is amazing,” Lydia Aguilar says. “It’s just a cherry on top for him being from Hispanic backgrounds and showing the world ‘I’m a Latin playing at this stage and living my dream.’”