The ongoing saga of former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava is probably not the first of its kind, but it most certainly is the first in the public eye.
Let's take a trip back to last week, the college football rumor pool was in a frenzy when the report from On3’s Peter Nakos stated Iamaleava was seeking a pay raise from his already high figure of $2.5 million jump to $4 million. However, what made the report even more baffling is the fact this conversation about a pay raise began back in December, right before the Volunteers’ college football playoff debut against the eventual champion Buckeyes.
Rumor has it that Iamaleava’s representation, aka his father, was actively shopping his son’s name around to see what draw he could receive in possible NIL funding, all the while Nico was still on Tennessee’s roster. I’d assume this was to either lockdown a large sum of money from another university or use it as leverage against Tennessee to compensate him for such.
Let the record be known, Iamaleava is not a terrible quarterback but on the contrary, he surely is not great. Many around the Tennessee program were already debating if the money he was making was worth it in the first place. Of course, he led Tennessee to a 10-3 record and made the CFP, but he only crossed 200 passing yards in five of those 13 games — all against unranked opponents. To put it kindly, he was not living up to the price tag.
As the rumor mill continued to grow, Iamaleava made a move that I feel is the catalyst for what is transpiring now — he skipped practice the day before Tennessee’s spring game. In response, head coach Josh Heupel let it be known that they are moving on and that “no one is bigger than the Power T.”
Tennessee made its move with Nico’s following shortly after, entering his name in the portal while still in search of that $4 million salary.
Now that brings us to today, Iamaleava first garnered a ton of traction as any former five-star recruit does when they enter the portal. Teams would provide an offer they found reasonable, and Iamaleava’s team would respond with a rebuttal of that $4 million. So far, teams have dropped like flies while all looking elsewhere in the portal for a quarterback who’s sporting a cheaper price tag.
North Carolina was invested early on, now it's bringing in former South Alabama quarterback Gio Lopez. Tulane and Texas Tech also threw their hats in to then immediately pull them out when they saw the cost of Iamaleava. Eyes point to Iamaleava signing a deal with UCLA according to TV personality Colin Cowherd, but no contract has been signed while the number for his new deal is expected to be $1.75 million.
To add insult to injury, the Iamaleava team is stating the move is not because of the money, like any would actually believe that. They’ve said the Tennessee offensive scheme was ultimately the downfall for Nico and the Volunteers. Again, like anyone would believe, arguably one of the best offensive minds in college football does not have a scheme that would cater towards a highly touted prospect.
The sad part about it is I don’t believe this is the fault of Iamaleava, I think it comes down to his representation throughout the whole matter. Bad advice has only taken money out of his pocket, while he will have to find a new home at a significantly less prominent university all while having to learn a new playbook in the process.
We can commend Tennessee and Huepel for how they went about this matter. The university laid the foundation for what could be the norm moving forward with college sports and NIL, showing student-athletes essentially what not to do if they want more money. However, they are also in a predicament — they don’t have a quarterback. Tennessee can write off this year and hope for the future with the No. 1 overall quarterback in the Class of 2026, Brandon Frazier coming soon. But their signal caller, where it stands now, is more than likely Jake Merklinger, who appeared in two games last year and did not record a passing touchdown.
This column is just a long-winded article to say that college athletics continues to evolve in front of our very eyes. And, unfortunately, Iamaleava is now going to be the face of a multitude of different reasons for what not to do when negotiating a contract. Time will tell if the drama surrounding his situation will work out for either side. However, I do imagine this will reverberate through college football as a whole where we will not see as public of a fallout.
