Nico Iamaleava’s Exit From Tennessee Marks New Era of College Football

Way back when I wasn’t 59 years old and my right hip and back didn’t hurt every morning from 36 years of umpiring, I was in Winchester, Virginia, one July week to work a Little League softball state tournament and rooming with a chap named Kat Stapleton.

Among other things, Kat was looking to beef up the ranks of the state umpires’ association. He met one prospective member, and the first question the guy asked him was, “What’s in it for me?”

No, that umpire wasn’t related to Nico Iamaleava’s dad—at least as far as I know. But that’s the best way I have to offer my two cents on Iamaleava literally living up to his last name and leaving Tennessee less than two weeks ago for UCLA.

Iamaleava I-am-a-leaving Knoxville for Westwood has sparked a far better and far more meaningful sports debate than literally any time Stephen A. Smith, Skip Bayless or Colin Cowherd open their overpriced mouths. In the process, it also has some predictably clutching pearls and crying about the ruination of a system that was already irreparably damaged.

Iamaleava, you might remember, was the player Tennessee fans once supported last year during a court case in Greeneville, about an hour east of Knoxville. When U.S. District Judge Clifton Corker sided with the state of Tennessee and the commonwealth of Virginia, ruling that the NCAA couldn’t enforce NIL regulations, it removed the last hurdle for Iamaleava to start under center for the Volunteers.

At the start of last season, Iamaleava looked good enough to hoist the Heisman Trophy. A state that worships its flagship football program like no other was going gaga over Iamaleava. Fans were likely considering changing baby names from Peyton to Nico.

And then Iamaleava looked more human and less immortal as SEC play wore on, finishing with the lowest quarterback rating of any starter in Josh Heupel’s four years. Defense and running back Dylan Sampson’s brilliance propped up Iamaleava to a certain extent.

Iamaleava surpassed 200 yards in the air just twice in SEC games and was miserable—then again, the entire team was—during a 42-17 loss at Ohio State in a first-round College Football Playoff matchup. Or, to put it another way, the Vols’ NIL collective was paying Patrick Mahomes money for Derek Carr performance.

The offseason quarterback market got Iamaleava’s attention. With the going rate roughly $4 million for guys his camp didn’t believe were in his class, they asked Tennessee’s NIL collective for a raise from the $2.4 million Iamaleava was reportedly set to make.

The divorce was messy, and Iamaleava pulled the rip cord just before the Volunteers’ spring game, leading to Heupel’s proclamation that no one is bigger than the Power T. Heupel is presently a hero among Tennessee fans—a status that will probably change after their first SEC loss.

Iamaleava took a pay cut to play for UCLA this fall and will likely take a cut in the win column. At best, the Bruins are a middle-of-the-pack Big Ten program that’s way down the Los Angeles sports food chain, perhaps trailing the LA Galaxy or LAFC at this stage.

There aren’t really winners in this sordid tale. Iamaleava’s dad might as well be college football’s version of LaVar Ball at this point, while Iamaleava comes off as a spoiled brat more interested in his next paycheck than his team’s success. And Tennessee fans come off as transactional as their former quarterback.

Welcome to the new world of TV-league college football. It makes me want to cover more FCS football.