Tennessee football may have a serious problem on their hands. Amid NIL contract talks with the Volunteers’ program, Quarterback Nico Iamaleava failed to show up to the team’s spring practice session on Friday. This sparked concerns about his immediate future with the program. It comes in the middle of his representatives discussing a potential new contract for the young star to keep him from entering the transfer portal.
Iamaleava, who is coming off of his first full season as the Volunteers’ starting quarterback, is seeking a new NIL deal from the school after guiding them to the College Football Playoff in 2024. Originally signing a deal worth around $2 million in 2022, Iamaleava is looking to try and double his current salary and put him among some of the highest-earning athletes in college sports.
The Current Iamaleava situation
A highly touted recruit out of Warren High School in Downey, Iamaleava received considerable interest from some of the nation’s top programs. Oregon, Alabama, Georgia, and Miami are the most notable programs, aside from Tennessee, to have been all-in on trying to land him. However, he opted instead to attend Tennessee. After spending 2023 as the backup to Joe Milton, took over the starting job last year and quickly established himself as a star. He threw for 2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.
Now that he is a big star in the current landscape of college football, Iamaleava is looking to maximize his potential earnings and wants to either land a new NIL deal with Tennessee that will pay him double what he was making as he heads into possibly his final season of college football. Or he will enter the transfer portal and seek the money elsewhere. With plenty of interest generated out of high school, it is expected that there will be no shortage of suitors who are interested in his services should he transfer.
What Would the Plan Be If Iamaleava Leaves?
At this point, losing Iamaleava could be detrimental to the Vols. With only two other quarterbacks on the roster, redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and freshman George MacIntyre, losing Iamaleava would put the team at a major deficit at their most important position. It would force them to scramble to figure out who could run the ship while keeping the standards high. While the spring portal period is nearing, it is highly unlikely that a top quarterback will be available this time around.
After finishing 10-3 and seeing their season end in the first round of the College Football Playoff at the hands of the eventual national champions in Ohio State, expectations are high in Knoxville in 2025. But if the team hopes to see the same success from last year, and be even more of a threat, having their quarterback will be important. The NIL era can be tricky to navigate, but if it has shown us anything, it’s that sometimes to keep top-tier talent, you have to shell out big money.
Final Thoughts
This whole situation is a major reality check of what today’s college football scene looks like. Gone are the days of a top school signing a top player who will forever be known as a campus legend. Now, if you want to sign and keep top players, making sure that you have the resources to pay them the big bucks is the most important thing. While losing Iamaleava would be a tough pill for Tennessee to swallow and would prove how much different and harsher college football is now, it is time for the Volunteers to decide what they care about most.
