Josh Heupel on Nico Iamaleava exiting Tennessee
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel shares feelings on Nico Iamaleava’s exit from the Vols and ‘do not contact’ tag.
Sports Pulse
Nico Iamaleava’s recruiting commitment to Tennessee in 2022 trumpeted a message that maybe, just maybe, the Vols actually were back this time. The Vols won 11 games that season behind senior quarterback Hendon Hooker. Two years later, Iamaleava helped Tennessee qualify for the College Football Playoff for the first time ever.
Those were the good times. The Tennessee-Iamaleava union ultimately unraveled last week. He’s transferring, after one season as Tennessee’s starter and two years in the program.
Tennessee’s NIL collective poured millions into Iamaleava, and the Vols eventually wound up in the NCAA cross hairs under scrutiny that it violated the association’s NIL rules during the recruitment of Iamaleava. The state of Tennessee sued the NCAA, the school’s administration backed Iamaleava, and a legal settlement stemming from the lawsuit further kneecapped the NCAA’s flimsy NIL regulatory powers.
Looking back on it all now, was the juice worth the squeeze for Tennessee in this now-severed union with Iamaleava?
That’s a subject of conversation in this edition of “SEC Football Unfiltered,” a podcast from the USA TODAY Network. Host Blake Toppmeyer of the USA TODAY Network is joined on this episode by GoVols247 senior writer Wes Rucker, as they unpack how the Iamaleava-Tennessee union unraveled, and where each goes from here.
Iamaleava remains a talented quarterback with upside, but he would have enjoyed a hotter market for his talents if he had transferred in December.
Source link : https://www.knoxnews.com/story/sports/college/university-of-tennessee/football/2025/04/17/nico-iamaleava-transfer-tennessee-football-quarterback/83120893007/
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Publish date : 2025-04-17 10:05:00
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