Has the last week felt more like a year instead? In a flash, Tennessee football is on the lookout for a new starting quarterback, as Nico Iamaleava has left the team to enter the spring transfer portal. What's next for Nico?
Multiple reports indicated that Iamaleava has committed to UCLA, but everyone is waiting on the official announcement. However, it has also been stated that Iamaleava is taking a paycut to play for the Bruins, with his camp now saying the reason he left wasn't about money, it was more about the offense being run by Josh Heupel. Give us a break.
On Friday evening, Iamaleava took to social media to fire back at people claiming the threatened to sit out of the playoff showdown vs. Ohio State and that he 'threw the game.' Say what you want about Iamaleava, but accusing him for that was absurd. At the same time, with how it looks like his contract talks have gone, it's clear as day that Heupel and the Vols were right to not give in to his incredibly high NIL demands.
Per source, new UCLA QB Nico Iamaleava’s NIL deal is under $2 million.
— Sheena Quick (@Sheena_Marie3) April 17, 2025
Tennessee was never going to reach Nico Iamaleava's NIL demands
What hurts for plenty of Tennessee fans is they were all-in on Iamaleava since he moved to Knoxville. They backed him during the hard times and they sure as heck were in his corner when he was making incredible throws for the Vols last campaign.
If you're still upset with him, we get it, but no one can argue with the fact that he played a huge role in the Vols winning 10 games in 2024 and reaching the CFP for the first time. However, with the way the QB market has changed, he wanted more money, plain and simple.
Nico Iamaleava’s Dad said that leaving Tennessee wasn’t about the money but bc of Josh Heupel’s offense.
— Chris Marler (@VernDumbquist) April 17, 2025
If we are gonna talk about sports we are gonna do it with factual information.
Here’s how Nico’s 2024 season compared w/ every other QB Heupel’s had since 2017. Not great. pic.twitter.com/qqT38EQnXf
Josh Heupel took Hendon Hooker from the transfer portal, someone that no one had heard of or was excited about, and proceeded to give us the most fun year of Tennessee Football in nearly two decades.
— Tennessee Williams (@TN_Williams) April 17, 2025
It’s not always about the popular name, but it’s always about the right dude.
Retweet if you stand with Josh Heupel 🍊🍊 pic.twitter.com/OOOzVUIDUH
— Aaron Torres (@Aaron_Torres) April 12, 2025
Nico just proved that Josh Heupel made the right decision
— SullenSerf (@SullenSerf) April 18, 2025
Last thing I’ll say about it
Nico just proved that Josh Heupel made the right decision! #GBO #VFL #Tennessee
— Toni Long 🇺🇸 (@TonivLong) April 19, 2025
His team is pushing the narrative that Tennessee's offense wasn't going to get him ready in the right way for the next level. This conveniently came after news continued to come in that no one was going to come close to $4 million, with some schools only willing to put around $1 million on the table.
Looking ahead to next season, Jake Merklinger and George MacIntyre, for now, will push for the starting job. Might someone like Steve Angeli be added to the QBs room - or will another signal-caller of interest enter the portal? That's up in the air, but Heupel never wanted to get into an intense negotiation with Iamaleava's reps and neither did Danny White. A split for the two sides was the right call, as money 100 percent was the driving force behind all of this, not the offense.