What to Make of the Nico Iamaleava Situation at Tennessee

Randy Sartin/USA Today

On April 10, On3 Sports’ Pete Nakos revealed that quarterback Nico Iamaleava and Tennessee were in contract disputes, as he sought a larger NIL deal. On Saturday, April 12, Iamaleava was dismissed from the program and entered the transfer portal . This came after the first ever “hold-out” in college football. The entire saga escalated and unfolded within two days.

As more developments come out of the situation, it appears that Iamaleava has been terribly represented by his so-called “agents” and by his family. Iamaleava’s father, Nic, claimed to have “no idea” about these negotiations, and called the aforementioned Pete Nakos (one of the sport's most reliable sources) “Bi7ch Nakos.” He outright denied the claims, and just one day later, his son sat out of team meetings and practice, followed by his dismissal from the team, confirming the initial reports. 

Nico Iamaleava was a consensus five-star recruit in the class of 2023, the nation’s 2nd overall player according to 247Sports. As a true freshman in 2023, he served as the backup to Joe Milton, appearing in five games, including a start against Iowa in the Citrus Bowl. 

He became the full time starter as a redshirt freshman in 2024, and while Tennessee had a very successful season, finishing 10-3 with a playoff appearance, the quarterback did not live up to his billing immediately. The strength of the Volunteers offense came on the ground, as running back Dylan Sampson took home SEC player of the year, tallying nearly 1500 yards and over 20 touchdowns. Tennessee also fielded one of the country’s best defenses in 2024. 

It has been rumored that the events of mid-April were not the first time that Iamaleava had contract disputes with the program. On April 14, CBS Sports’ Josh Pate suggested that Nico nearly held out of the Volunteers playoff matchup with Ohio State, again seeking a larger payday, because the amount of money he was receiving was built for a 12-13 game schedule, obviously not including playoff games. 

Rumours have also emerged that Nico and his representatives approached Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks -- likely playing the field and seeing that they could get. The bad news that apparently nobody in the Iamaleava camp thought: Oregon has a quarterback they are committed to. Dante Moore was also a consensus five-star recruit in the same class as Iamaleava. If the rumors are true, Lanning immediately took this information to Heupel, which at least partially led to the events of the weekend. The Oregon head coach refused to comment on the matter.

There is no winner from this situation. Yes, head coach Josh Heupel and the Tennessee program taking a firm stance and not backing down to Nico and his representatives is a net positive for college football as a whole. By not folding to Iamaleava, it set a precedent across the nation that any NIL requests must be within reason and equitable to the market of any given position. Most importantly, that no one player is bigger than any program, a sentiment echoed by Heupel himself. 

Tennessee does not walk away from this situation with any win, outside of the moral victory that came out of it. While Iamaleava was not a world-beating signal caller in 2024, he was considered to be one of the best quarterbacks in the nation for a reason. He possesses a wealth of natural ability and talent, perfect for the veer and shoot system that Heupel and his staff operate. Losing a quarterback of that caliber at the end of spring practice in a relatively calm year for transfer quarterbacks is troublesome. All the transfer options, Carson Beck, John Mateer, Fernando Mendoza, etc. have all been long committed and enrolled at their new schools. While the spring transfer portal does open on April 16, and there could be options, it appears incredibly unlikely that anyone close to Nico’s caliber will enter the portal and fall into Heupel’s lap. 

Iamaleava also does not win in this situation – not just because he didn’t receive the money he and his representatives were looking for. As mentioned, every team that needed a transfer quarterback, went out and got their guy already, financially and personally committing to them. Iamaleava landing at a program at Tennessee’s level looks almost uncertain, and a team within their realm looks fairly doubtful as well. Also. per SEC bylaws, a player cannot transfer from one SEC school to another in the spring window and be eligible to play that same season. Cross any SEC foe off the list.

Who could blame the teams not willing to take Iamaleava? Name a program who would be willing to bring in a guy who has twice requested more money within a five month span, including a potential sit-out of a playoff game, and holding out of practice. Name the team willing to not only take on that, but also the financial burden and PR nightmare that would come along with it. If that wasn’t enough, Nico was not an impressive quarterback a season ago. Almost half of his 19 touchdown passes in 2024 came against non power-four opponents. Just four of nineteen touchdown passes came against teams that finished the regular season better than .500 on the year. 

The whole situation paints an ugly picture of the college football landscape. I believe players should be fairly compensated for their efforts. I believe that players (within reason) should be able to seek better opportunities via the portal (a mess of a system in its own right). However, this situation with Iamaleava exposed the extreme side of the matter that needs to (and will be) addressed. Players being able to determine their value on a season-to-season basis, and being under no obligation to continue with the program they committed to for at least a two year basis, is one of the many issues plaguing college football.

All that said, how could you blame the players? College football’s landscape has never made it more advantageous for the player. Don’t like the situation? You are more than free to transfer in either, or in some cases – both portal windows. Don’t like the pay? You can transfer to a team willing to pay more, or your program’s NIL collectives will invest their money into you and your talent, keeping you there at a higher price. Morally, and for the greater good of the sport, those are not good things, but you can certainly not blame the players for taking full advantage of the unstructured environment around them. 

Should this whole ordeal even fall onto Nico in the first place? Time and time again we see college football players under poor and/or illegitimate representation, seeking big paydays on behalf of their client. These people do not care about college football.

Many, including NIL lawyer Darren Heitner believe that Nico was receiving bad advice throughout the entire process. 

Situations such as this could be changing for what appears to be the greater good soon. The House v. NCAA settlement appears to be nearing a conclusion, a multi-billion dollar lawsuit that would change the landscape of college athletics. With the approval of the settlement, schools would be allowed to directly pay players, with a cap of 20.5 million dollars spread amongst the athletic body. That figure would increase by 4% across the ten year agreement. 

Should Tennessee choose not to go into the spring portal for their next quarterback, Jake Merklinger would likely take over. Merklinger was a four-star recruit and 13th ranked quarterback in the class of 2024.

The takeaways from the Nico/Tennessee situation:

1) "College football is being ruined by people outside of the sport, by people who do not care about the sport" - Josh pate

2) There is no winner. Tennessee is without a former five-star, 2nd year starter QB, Nico is without a team, and will have trouble finding a landing spot within the range he is looking for, both financially and caliber-wise.

3) Players need real agents.

4) Josh Heupel stood on BUSINESS.