Nico Iamaleava entered the transfer portal in search of more NIL money. According to his father, the former five-star quarterback has already received offers greater than what he was getting at Tennessee.
The way this saga continues to unfold is unlike anything we have seen before.
Iamaleava, the No. 2-ranked player in the college football recruiting Class of 2023, signed the biggest NIL deal of all-time as a senior in high school. He supposedly received a six-figure signing bonus prior to his arrival to campus in Knoxville. The Volunteers paid him north of $2 million as a freshman — to play only four games in garbage time behind Joe Milton and to start the bowl game. They paid him a similar number for last season, when they reached the College Football Playoff.
If the general numbers are correct, Iamaleava got paid approximately $16,600 per pass attempt (or more) in 2023 and 2024. That apparently was not enough.
Guys like Carson Beck and Darian Mensah are getting paid approximately $4 million per year at Georgia and Tulane, respectively. Iamaleava’s father wanted his son to be in that same pay range so he went shopping for a better deal at other schools. An agent is not involved here. It is only his dad.
One thing led to another and Tennessee found out about the elder Iamaleava’s shenanigans. Oregon head coach Dan Lanning refuses to deny that he was the one who tipped off Josh Heupel.
Nico Iamaleava skipped practice on the day before the spring game in Knoxville. The two parties went their separate ways less than 36 hours later. Heupel told his starting quarterback to kick rocks. Iamaleava entered the transfer portal in search of the money he was asking of the Vols.
According to the family patriarch, the money exists at other programs who are willing to pay. He messaged back and forth with ‘Blue Blood Bias‘ on X. It is an account similar to an MLFootball or Dov Kleiman. There is not a lot of substance. Much of what it posts is inflammatory and/or an untrue representation of reality. I would consider it one of the worst college football sources on the internet.
And yet, Nico Iamaleava’s father provided the account with a detailed breakdown of what is going on.
The offers we have received are better than what Nico was getting, by a lot!
Tulane and a lot of other schools yes
Y’all in the media need to understand this is business first! And we allowed to seek opportunities elsewhere
Nico has offers over 40000000$
— @Nic_Iamaleava, via Blue Blood Bias
This is not groundbreaking news. We already knew the asking price. Tulane was one of the first schools to be mentioned as a potential landing spot.
That does not change the terrible optics here. The father of a starting quarterback in the SEC encouraged his son to leave his school in search of a bigger paycheck. He then proceeded to blab about his other offers to an anonymous account on social media (that very few people actually like) in an effort to defend his son’s widely-criticized actions. Wild move!
For the elder Iamaleava to say it is “business first” is totally fair. However, it also reflects the idea that Nico might not be good enough to get paid in the NFL. Get the money now. Otherwise, what is the difference between $2 million and $4 million when the NFL pays $20+ million to high-level quarterbacks.