Josh Heupel on Nico Iamaleava exit: ‘No one is bigger than the Power T’
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel reacted to quarterback Nico Iamaleava’s departure on April 12.
Tennessee football reportedly considered at least one other option to replace Nico Iamaleava before landing on Joey Aguilar in the spring transfer portal.
ESPN reported on Friday, July 11, that the Vols reached out to TCU quarterback Josh Hoover’s agent to gauge interest transferring to the Vols. Hoover, who wasn’t in the transfer portal at the time, opted to stay with the Horned Frogs after a breakout season.
“(My agent) didn’t even say a number,” Hoover told ESPN. “I just said, ‘No, that’s not what I want to do.’ It was pretty simple.”
Tennessee eventually landed on Aguilar as Iamaleava’s likely replacement after the latter transferred to UCLA in the offseason following an NIL dispute.
Hoover, a native of Rockwall, Texas, passed for a TCU single season-record 3,949 yards and 27 touchdowns to 11 interceptions last season. He led the Horned Frogs to a 9-4 record and had six games with more than 300 passing yards in 2024 as a redshirt sophomore.
TCU coach Sonny Dykes said he never spoke to Hoover about Tennessee, saying he wasn’t worried about Hoover leaving Fort Worth, Texas.
“He’s a really unique guy, and he loves TCU,” Dykes told ESPN. “It’s like he tells me all the time how appreciative he is to be there, and he’s kind of an old soul from that standpoint. And his parents are just unique people and so they’re big-picture people.”
Alex Hoover, the father of John Hoover, also remembered his son telling him: “What kind of captain would I be? What kind of player would I be if I left? I gave my teammates my word that I’d be back.”
Tennessee eventually landed…
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Publish date : 2025-07-11 19:09:00
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