You just knew that Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel was going to be asked about former 5-star Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava at SEC Media Days. This offseason, countless headlines were written when Iamaleava entered the transfer portal.
Not only that, but Iamaleava reportedly ghosted the team, which included him being a no-show for a practice leading up to the Spring Game. After Iamaleava helped lead UT to the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history, it was a shame things ended that way.
When Iamaleava was brought up, Heupel took the high road and didn't throw any shade at the quarterback whatsoever. Instead, he shared the mindset that a lot of Vols fans have on their mind right now and that's to focus and move forward with the guys who are still donning a Tennessee jersey with pride:
Tennessee's Josh Heupel on departure of QB Nico Iamaleava: "It's never about who isn't in your building, it's who is in your building. You have to have the next guy up mentality. I'm excited who we have here"
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 15, 2025
Josh Heupel took the high road at SEC Media Days when talking about Nico Iamaleava
Heupel makes a great point there. Why should the Tennessee locker room be focused on someone who is on the west coast getting ready for his first season in the Big Ten? Instead, all of the attention should be on getting ready for fall camp and the prep for Syracuse.
As for who will be replacing Iamaleava as the team's QB1? That's totally up in the air. In case you missed it, Heupel revealed on Tuesday that there's going to be an open competition for the job between Joey Aguilar, Jake Merklinger and George MacIntyre.
Some fans were a bit disappointed that Heupel didn't come out and reveal Aguilar - the presumed starter - is going to be his guy. With that said, nothing is going to be handed to the veteran QB and he's going to have to earn his spot.
Merklinger and MacIntyre are going to have something to say about that. As for Iamaleava, he's indeed no longer with the program and he's set to have a big year with UCLA. We wish him well, but like Heupel said, it's time to worry about the guys in town who are excited about getting the Vols back to the CFP.