Chaz Coleman blows by Nico Iamaleava as the biggest Tennessee NIL mistake ever

This is going to be a move that Tennessee and Josh Heupel are going to regret for quite some time. According to Pete Nakos and Chris Low, the Vols have officially decided to part ways with 5-star transfer Chaz Coleman, who reportedly signed with the program on a multi-million dollar deal. Coleman will now never play a down for Heupel and new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.

New reports on Chaz Coleman's status with Tennessee lead to even more questions

During spring ball, Coleman turned heads during the short amount of time he was on the field, but missed practices and time away from the team had fans nervous that something major was going on behind the scenes. It reminded everyone of what happened with Nico Iamaleava before the 5-star quarterback eventually transferred to UCLA to play closer to home.

And now, Coleman's future is totally up in the air, but we know for sure that he won't be sticking around in Knoxville. This is a massive swing and a miss by the staff, as going all-in to land Coleman in the first place has ended up backfiring on UT. No disrespect to Heupel, but this is all on him as head coach, and people have every right to be annoyed with what has transpired.

Tennessee has parted ways with Chaz Coleman in a move that will sting for a while

With Coleman missing time, including offseason workouts, Heupel consistently said that Tennessee was in constant communication with the stud EDGE, and that Coleman was just having to work through some things. Heupel added that he was going to continue to help him out in any way that he could, with the expectation that Coleman would be ready to rock by the time Week 1 arrived.

Instead, the opposite has turned out to be the case. Shortly after he made the move to Knoxville, reports arrived that Coleman was homesick, and that he was having a difficult time making the transition to the city. This came after he spent his freshman year with Penn State, leaving after the coaching changes.

No one can question Coleman's talent, but this has been a rollercoaster of a ride, and one that caught everyone by surprise. Coleman was expected to be the leader in the trenches for Heupel on the defensive side of the ball, which is why Tennessee was aggressive NIL wise to get him to play next season in the SEC.

There's now a major hole to fill. Hindsight is of course 20-20, but if Heupel had the ability to turn back the clock, he of course would have avoided this Coleman mistake and focused elsewhere in the transfer portal for pass-rush help. This is yet another 5-star mistake by Tennessee, which has a similar feel to things with how the Iamaleava drama ended. We hate to pile on Heupel, but again, this is on him and no one else. Frustrating doesn't even begin to describe how this Coleman saga played out.

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