After the Tennessee Volunteers cut ties with quarterback Nico Iamaleava this past Saturday following his decision to hold out of practice to try and leverage a new NIL deal, multiple top Power 4 programs were named as potential landing spots. In the days since, most of them have taken themselves out of the race.
The biggest story in college sports started last week when Pete Nakos of On3.com reported that Iamaleava’s camp wanted an increase in his NIL deal from just over $2 million to $4 million in 2025. When Tennessee didn’t bite, the former five-star recruit sat out Friday’s practice.
Related: Nico Iamaleava demanded pay raise from Tennessee before College Football Playoff
- Nico Iamaleavea stats (ESPN): 2,616 passing yards, 19-5 TD-INT, 63.8% completion rate, 7.8 ypa, 145.3 QB rating, 258 rushing yards, 3 rushing touchdowns
Volunteers’ head coach Josh Heupel then decided to move on from his starting quarterback just hours before the Orange-White spring game. Iamaleava entered the transfer portal and there was immediate buzz about the USC Trojans, UCLA Bruins, Texas Tech Red Raiders and Notre Dame Fighting Irish as potential landing spots.
Over the weekend, Nakos immediately ruled out USC and Notre Dame with the report that the programs had no interest in Iamaleava. Soon after, Texas Tech booster Cody Campbell made it clear the program also wouldn’t be going after the young quarterback.
Related: Tennessee Volunteers predicted to land top SG in transfer portal
On Monday, Nakos named the Bruins, North Carolina Tar Heels and the Tulane Green Wave as the likeliest landing spots for Iamaleava. However, Nakos followed that up on Tuesday by reporting that North Carolina is focused on South Alabama quarterback Gio Lopez and Bill Belichick is not pursuing Iamaleava.
Within a week, Iamaleava went from being the starting quarterback for a top SEC program making more than $2 million per year to facing an uncertain future. UCLA still seems to be after him, but it would be a significant downgrade from the situation Iamaleava had in Tennessee. If the Bruins eventually drop out, Iamaleava could be facing the possibility of having to start for a non-Power 4 program and make less than he did at Tennessee.
