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The biggest story of the 2026 college football transfer portal window involves Washington quarterback Demond Williams, who announced his intent to enter the portal just days after signing a $4M contract with the Huskies.
Williams has since been linked with the LSU Tigers and new head coach Lane Kiffin, while the Huskies have vowed to hold him to the contract he signed with them.
Last year, a similar incident occurred with then-Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleave, who left the Vols after his redshirt freshman season despite having signed one of the most lucrative NIL deals in college football at the time.
As it turns out, the two moves may have more in common than anybody knew.
Demond Williams And Nico Iamaleava Share An Adviser
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports that Williams used a traditional agency to agree to his new deal with the Huskies. However, he then blindsided the agency by reversing course and entering the transfer portal.
“Williams used a traditional agency to complete his deal. Sources said there had been outreach for more than two weeks from people outside the agency to schools,” Thamel reported. “The agency that did his deal was blindsided by Williams’ portal entry.”
As it turns out, the man allegedly doing outside bidding for Williams is the same man who represented Iamaleava.
“Per sources, one person who has contacted schools about Williams is Cordell Landers, who generally refers to himself as an adviser and loomed as one of the central figures in Iamaleava’s departure from Tennessee,” writes Thamel. “Landers denied to ESPN that he is involved with Williams.”
Notably, Iamaleava reportedly ended up making less money at UCLA than he would have at Tennessee, while Bruins head coach DeShaun Foster wound up getting fired mid-way through the season.
Who knows where Williams lands? And maybe Landers is telling the truth when he says he has no ties to the Washington quarterback.
But the two transfer sagas do seem to have a lot of similarities.