The Iamaleava camp greatly misplayed this one. And Tennessee ultimately just couldn’t do it anymore.
In the span of roughly 48 hours, Nico Iamaleava went from the starting quarterback at Tennessee to breaking up with the program entirely and planning to hit the transfer portal.
That’s at least the outside perspective — this was brewing for much longer.
The Tennessee football program hit their breaking point on Friday morning when Iamaleava went AWOL and skipped the practice before Saturday’s Orange and White Game.
“Friday morning when he’s a no-show,” Heupel said when he knew things were finished with Nico. “You come off the practice field and there’s no communication.
“If it’s going to happen, rip the band-aid, too. At the end of the day we’ve got a lot of great work for the two guys that are here and we’ve got a chance to move forward as a program. So it’s unfortunate, just in the landscape of college football, that this happens at this point.”
Iamaleava’s camp not-so-quietly flirted with the transfer portal in late December. He ultimately chose not to, but didn’t receive a new deal either. Tennessee was actively adding offensive linemen out of the transfer portal in hopes of giving him more protection in 2025, which according to the Iamaleava crew, was the reason for the tension — not a new contract.
According to reporting done by A to Z Sports, Nico’s father (Nic) and his agent had been shopping around for a new school dating back to the winter. One of those schools ended up being Oregon, and Dan Lanning reportedly blew the whistle and reached out to Josh Heupel to alert him. Per the report, Notre Dame, USC, UCLA and Texas Tech were also contacted while Nico was being shopped.
With moves being made in the shadows and constant new demands, you can see how the frustration built on the Tennessee side. Heupel’s regime had frankly put everything into Iamaleava, dating back to his recruitment out of high school. The five-star quarterback was the first public face of NIL, signing a deal north of $2 million per season to come across the country and play in Knoxville.
Those demands finally went public on Thursday, with On3’s Pete Nakos reporting that the Iamaleava camp was shooting for a new deal worth $4 million. Clearly upset that things had gone public, Iamaleava’s father took to X to refute the report. Just ten hours later, his son no-showed at practice.
Nico’s reps overplayed their hand and greatly misjudged what he was worth. After all, Iamaleava only threw for 2,600 yards and 19 touchdowns — only nine in SEC play and four of those came against Vanderbilt. The Tennessee passing attack largely struggled in 2024, and it seemed like the Iamaleava camp was still living on that five-star billing he received coming out of high school.
Now with the ten day transfer portal window set to open on Wednesday, they’re left looking for a new home. You think they’re going to pull $4 million at a new school? Not a chance. There’s a decent chance Iamaleava ends up taking a pay cut after several coaches have spoken out in support of the Tennessee decision on the situation.
USC and Notre Dame are reportedly out. Oregon is clearly out. That leaves…. UCLA? Would Bill Belichick put up with the Iamaleava family track record at North Carolina? Whichever destination he chooses, it’s highly unlikely he finds a better situation than he had in Knoxville.
It’s an unfortunate and puzzling move, frankly a disaster from the Iamaleava side. Though the production wasn’t there, he still had a season left to put in the work and improve ahead of a potential NFL exit ramp. Now Nico gets to learn an entirely new school, offense and coaching staff, likely while playing with significantly less talent around him.
And make no mistake — Tennessee could have met the financial demands. They simply chose not to. Heupel and company will hit the transfer portal and very likely pull and more than capable starter, maybe even find an upgrade.
It didn’t have to be this way. The Iamaleava’s clearly thought they could be the latest to strong arm a school for more money. Instead, Tennessee told them to take a hike. This was the first high profile, public example we’ve seen anywhere of a school standing up to a star player. It might just end up being a turning point in this wild wild west NIL landscape.
Tennessee will be just fine. Nico Iamaleava? Well, we’ll see.