We're going to start off this piece by making it clear that we're not taking any kind of a shot at former Tennessee Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava. On Saturday, Josh Heupel took the high road and said he's thankful for everything the youngster accomplished in Knoxville.
At the same time, just what in the heck were his reps thinking over the past 5-6 months or so? Iamaleava is gone, packing up his bags and returning home to figure out what's next for his college career. According to Josh Pate, though, this has been in the works for quite some time.
During his 247Sports show over the weekend, Pate dropped quite the update, stating that Iamaleava, among others, was actually considering holding out of the College Football Playoff due to issues with his contract. Iamaleava ended up playing in the loss to Ohio State, but are we supposed to believe the behind-the-scenes negotiations weren't a distraction leading up to that rough night in Columbus?
Whoa, per @JoshPateCFB Nico and his camp nearly held out during Tennessee’s CFP trip? So this was clearly a distraction leading up to the showdown in Columbus https://t.co/wKq3P9mDna
— All For Tennessee (@allfortennessee) April 14, 2025
Josh Pate has reported Nico Iamaleava nearly held out during the College Football Playoff
"A lot of the stuff they told you that you didn't have to worry about, a lot of the stuff they told you wouldn't happen, it's funny how it keeps happening," Pate said. "These are the same people that would tell you that players would never opt out of playoff games. If we had more playoff games and less meaningless bowl games - players won't opt out of playoff games. That same crowd fails to mention that this past December, cats like Nico Iamaleava almost held out of playoff games because they were trying to renegotiate contracts in the middle of a playoff run. He wasn't the only one."
The system is totally broken. Pate doesn't go after Nico or his reps, but he simply points out that everything is a mess when it comes to NIL and college football, which we totally agree with. However, what was Iamaleava by thinking potentially not playing against Ohio State?
It was easily the biggest game of his career. Again, this had to be a distraction for the locker room leading up to kickoff. This isn't just on the QB - his reps trying to go to battle with the Vols administration like this was never going to work out. If anything, it was only going to ruin the relationship.
Heupel said the team is ready to move on and that no individual, including himself, is bigger than the entire squad. Iamaleava's team reportedly wanted his NIL deal to be upped to $4 million for the 2025 campaign. This was something UT was never going to touch - we'll see if another program will.