Tennessee football could face a challenging year in 2025 after the departure of former five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
The Vols had seen the quarterback as the future of Tennessee football, with another couple of years as a starter before heading off to the NFL. That won't be the case, as Nico transferred to UCLA at the end of spring camp after failed NIL negotiations.
Due to losing the former five-star quarterback, Tennessee has dropped out of ESPN's top 25 rankings after spring camps have concluded throughout college football.
Tennessee was ranked No. 19 heading into spring in ESPN's pre-spring camp top 25 rankings, but the Vols are expected to suffer a big drop with the loss of Iamaleava.
ESPN's Mark Schlabach shared that Tennessee dropped out solely because of Nico's loss: "Tennessee fell out of the rankings after losing quarterback Nico Iamaleava to the portal."
Several SEC teams landed in the top-25 post-spring, including No. 25 Oklahoma, No. 24 Ole Miss, No. 23 Texas A&M, No. 19 Florida, No. 13 South Carolina, No. 9 Alabama, No. 6 LSU, No. 4 Georgia, and No. 3 Texas.
Penn State is the top team in the post-spring rankings, at No. 1. The Nittany Lions have bested Clemson at No. 2 and Ohio State at No. 5, for now, as the college football world prepares for summer camp.
Tennessee is still set to have a solid season. UCLA transfer quarterback Joey Aguilar joining the Vols will create a quarterback battle heading into the summer.
Aguilar will compete with Jake Merklinger and George MacIntyre for the QB1 spot as the Vols look to return to the College Football Playoff for the second straight season.