Once again, Nico Iamaleava is making headlines and Tennessee football fans are taking notice. While speaking to reporters in Los Angeles, Iamaleava revealed that he was actually at the Rose Bowl last season watching a UCLA game while he was on a UT bye.
This came before the upset loss to Arkansas, which of course ended with Nico running out of bounds on the last play of the game instead of tossing a prayer into the end zone. With the latest UCLA update arriving, plenty of Vols fans are quite upset with the third-year QB.
Look, we get it. The optics don't look great and Vols supporters have voiced their anger with Iamaleava countless times in recent months. However, we don't think there's anything to see here. He was back home during the bye and went to go check out a game at a local stadium with family and friends - his brother Madden was a UCLA pledge. Are some Vols fans making too big a deal out of this?
Nico Iamaleava says he went to the UCLA-Oregon game at the Rose Bowl last season, he told @rockytopinsider during a media appearance.
— SleeperCFB (@SleeperCFB) August 27, 2025
This was during the bye week before the Vols lost to Arkansas on the road.
Madden Iamaleava, was a verbal commitment to UCLA at the time. pic.twitter.com/dHHUyWQGYB
Nico Iamaleava is once again under fire among Tennessee fans for attending a UCLA game in 2024
This probably happens way more than people might think. Again, he did nothing wrong here, as he was back home during the bye week in the Los Angeles area. He attended a college football game and nothing more. Had he been in contact with the staff while on campus, then sure, everyone would have the right to be furious.
That didn't happen in this case, though. If people want to be upset with Nico, they can be for him bolting at the end of spring ball in hopes of (reportedly) landing a bigger NIL deal. That didn't come to fruition for him, with him set to make around $1.2 million this year with the Bruins, which is the same as new Tennessee starting quarterback Joey Aguilar.
Come this weekend, Aguilar and the Vols are going to be in Atlanta taking on Syracuse in a Week 1 clash. Aguilar is fired up to lead this offense, while Josh Heupel is confident Tim Banks and his defense are going to deliver too. That's what Tennessee supporters should be focusing on and not Iamaleava going to a random game last season.