The Tennessee Volunteers’ fans might have already moved on from their former quarterback, Nico Iamaleava. He was once their beloved quarterback, who pushed Josh Heupel to bring out a fatter NIL check. And the same player, Heupel, had to pull the brakes on. The exit wasn’t bitter, at least not publicly, and Heupel handled it with calm professionalism.
Heupel has kept things cordial in his parting note, “I want to thank him for everything that he’s done since he’s gotten here as a recruit to who he was as a player, and how he competed inside the building. A great appreciation for that side of it.” Time has passed by. And Iamaleava is happy at his new home, the UCLA Bruins, while Joey Aguilar has become Heupel’s apple of the eye. However, the stories never stopped pouring in about what made Iamaleava hit the exit. And here comes some from College GameDay host, Kirk Herbstreit.
Turns out that the hoopla over NIL money is just one side of the Heupel-Iamaleava drama. The quarterback’s father, Nicholaus Iamaleava, stirred the pot first. On July 14, Hebstreit joined the Try That In a Small Town Podcast. He was first asked about sharing his thoughts on whether Iamaleava’s decision to hit the ‘TRANSFER’ button was correct on his part or not. Putting the focus on Aguilar, the ESPN analyst shared, “I’m going to wait to see. He’s (Aguilar) going into a great system. Josh Heupel puts the quarterback in a spot to be successful with the system that they run. So I wouldn’t be shocked to see him do well.” After this, he opened his reserve of unheard stories about Heupel’s former quarterback’s exit.
Herbstreit let the cat out of the bag. “That fan base is going to be in his corner after Nico kind of left them the way he did. I don’t know the true story (with Nico). I’ve heard different stories. I’ve heard from close sources that it was more about Nico’s dad going to Josh back in December before they played Ohio State, like, ‘Hey, listen, you gotta get better at offensive line and better at receiver, you gotta get better around him if you want us to stick around’. Which blows my mind that a college quarterback’s dad would do that to a head coach.” Well, Nico Iamaleava’s dad can’t be blamed. Heupel’s boys actually had a hard time protecting Iamaleava last season. Do you remember the Volunteers’ 19-14 loss to Arkansas?
It was Iamaleava’s first loss as a starter. He boasted a flawless 5-0 entering the night, a streak that began with the Citrus Bowl in 2023. And the outcome? The quarterback was sacked four times, and Arkansas pressured him on almost every pass he threw. And Iamaleava was not to be blamed for this. UT’s offensive line was beaten routinely by the Arkansas pass rushers. And its wide receivers struggled to get open. Maybe, Iamaleava’s dad was still living under the hope that Heupel would fix the loopholes.
As Herbstreit shared, “And I think at the end of the day, when they got into spring ball, it was still more of you (Tennessee) haven’t brought people in to make [Nico] and this offense better. Again, I don’t know if that’s true, but that’s what I was hearing. So I don’t think it was necessarily about the money. I think it was more about is Nico going to be able to play well enough to eventually be a first-round pick in the draft with the players that they had around him. That’s disgusting to me if that’s true.” If Heupel got a letter grade as a recruiter, developer, and evaluator, it might be a B-minus. That’s because from the transfer portal, the Vols didn’t chase top-tier transfers; instead settled for second and third-tier players. Now, without Iamaleava, here comes the CFP question.
Bud Elliott’s reality check for Josh Heupel
On the Jox 94.5 podcast, analyst Cole Cubelic had some questions for CBS Sports’ Bud Elliott. “Do you view Tennessee as being anything close to a playoff contender this year, or is it a pretty big falloff?” That’s when Heupel must have been reminded about Iamaleava. After all, no doubt, his former quarterback had all the potential to be one of those quarterbacks who can take a team to a whole other level. But what’s done is done. Elliott came up with the scenario that might land Heupel a Playoff ticket.
“If they arrive a year early, and that does happen in college football sometimes, right? Like back when I was writing to Tomahawk Nation at the 2013 FSU team, Jimbo [Fisher] thought the 14 team was going to be it, right? And like the 13 team, just all kind of coalesced and arrived a year early. I don’t think they have a James in Knoxville this year, obviously.” It’s time to check out whether Tennessee’s strategy of retention is going to work or not. Fans are not worried about Tennessee losing 13 scholarship players to the transfer portal. However, back in January, they were worried about adding only one, that’s Arizona transfer offensive guard Wendell Moe.
On top of it, Josh Heupel now gets a reality check when it comes to the quarterback situation. That’s when the concerning numbers come up about Tennessee’s new starter. Joey Aguilar’s got a cannon for an arm and can light up the scoreboard, but he also has a little bit of a turnover bug. He experienced a drop from 2024 to 2023; his completion rate went from 63.7% to 55.9%. As the season unfolds, Heupel’s reluctance to address the offensive line may haunt Tennessee’s playoff hopes.
The post Nico Iamaleava’s Father & Josh Heupel Involved in Feud as Kirk Herbstreit Hints Money Was Never a Factor appeared first on EssentiallySports.