It feels like an eternity ago that Nico Iamaleava decided to leave the Tennessee football program after reportedly not receiving any NIL compensation. The quarterback was supposed to be the future of the Vols, but things didn’t work out that way. Iamaleava was essentially done the moment he chose not to show up.
Initially, it was revealed that Nico’s agent or representative had been contacting other schools without the family’s knowledge.
“Unannounced to both Nic and Nico, their agent went behind their back to work negotiations once again. When he overplayed his hand, things got messy quickly. He attempted to save some face with the family by blaming the Tennessee side,” AtoZ’s Sports’ Ryan Roberts wrote.
At one point, the situation became so bad that Iamaleava’s team was reportedly instructed to take the fall.
“The people who screwed this up for him, his representation, should do the first dignified thing they’ve done and step up to take the arrows for him,” Josh Pate said on The Pat McAfee Show. “He’s not the one that got himself into this mess.”
This entire ordeal has made Iamaleava one of the most disliked players in college football today. The former five-star quarterback left the program in just about the most dramatic way possible.
Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp
Just when the situation seemed to have settled, Fox’s Joel Klatt brought it up again—this time placing the full blame on Tennessee and accusing the program of betraying Iamaleava.
“It does not help that they lost their QB and I’m sorry, but there’s just more to the story than the Tennessee faithful want to throw out there. They ran out there and ran Nico Iamaleava under the bus,” Klatt said.
It’s interesting that Klatt would revisit the situation now that it's over. His comments came during a discussion about Josh Heupel’s quarterback issues, where he claimed Tennessee had thrown Iamaleava under the bus and continue to withhold information. Whether this leads to further developments remains to be seen.