Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava holding out for more NIL money. UPDATE: Nico enters transfer portal and going to UCLA

[34TheTruth]

Nico is being paid more than 99.99% of QBs (or anyone) that has ever played CFB to play in front of his friends and family in the best city of the USA in an offense he thinks will better prepare him for a pro career.

Winning

Nico thinking longterm while Coli boys who never got paid a million to play ball in LA thinking short term

When does the winning stop

1.75 and living in Cali > 2 and having to live in the south


Nico played chess this whole time

You’ve been gobbling this dudes nuts all week

 

[PoorAndDangerous]

sounds like he played the game quite effectively, you should always advocate for yourself and get paid what you're worth.

 

[RammerJammer]

sounds like he played the game quite effectively, you should always advocate for yourself and get paid what you're worth.

I agree

Except Nico took a paycut to play at a distant 2nd program in LA because his family botched the whole thing

 

[PoorAndDangerous]

I agree

Except Nico took a paycut to play at a distant 2nd program in LA because his family botched the whole thing

Ahh, for some reason my brain inferred from the updated thread title as if he got paid more. I wasn't too interested in this story so haven't been paying much attention to it. Well, this kid is a dumbass then lmao.

 

[That Singer Guy...]

Ahh, for some reason my brain inferred from the updated thread title as if he got paid more. I wasn't too interested in this story so haven't been paying much attention to it. Well, this kid is a dumbass then lmao.

Look back at this thread in a year when he enters the transfer portal again.

 

[10bandz]

Ahh, for some reason my brain inferred from the updated thread title as if he got paid more. I wasn't too interested in this story so haven't been paying much attention to it. Well, this kid is a dumbass then lmao.

He's getting paid less to play for a lesser program in a state with big income taxes whereas in TN there is none.

He's from LA too and his brother rejected UCLA in the past, so the whole "He gets to enjoy Cali" thing is BS

The two brehs defending him in here are just trolling

 

[mozichrome]

athletic providing info on ucla roster. asking if this nico thing was really about football scheme. who really carried ut last year
backup options.

The Bruins offense was a complete disaster last season. UCLA ranked 95th out of 134 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in yards per play (5.4) and 126th in scoring (18.4 points per game). The Bruins averaged 3.1 yards per rush (128th) and allowed 34 sacks (107th).
Several of the top skill players from that group — notably receivers J.Michael Sturdivant and Logan Loya and running back T.J. Harden — transferred out of the program this offseason.
It was bad enough that neither offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy nor offensive line coach Juan Castillo made it to a second season with the program.
There may be legitimate questions about how Tennessee coach Josh Heupel’s offense prepares players for the NFL, but Iamaleava is placing his faith in a first-time play caller (new Bruins offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri spent last season as co-OC and quarterbacks coach at Indiana) and a supporting cast with major questions.
2. UCLA is attempting to remake its offense through the portal, adding receivers Mikey Matthews (Cal and Utah) and Jaedon Wilson (Arkansas) in an effort to bolster their passing attack. And although those two might have some promise, they have only 79 career catches between them. Not exactly proven commodities.
Running back transfer Anthony Woods was a productive player at Idaho, rushing for totals of 2,027 yards and 19 touchdowns in 2022 and ’23. He transferred to Utah last offseason but was plagued by injury and didn’t carry the ball once for the Utes in ’24.
UCLA has also brought in four offensive line transfers this offseason. While the intentions are good, it’s difficult to remake a position through the portal that requires so much chemistry. Many programs have tried. Many have failed.

Is there any legitimacy to the concerns about Tennessee’s offensive line and receivers that Iamaleava’s camp supposedly raised?
Though Pro Football Focus grades are often taken with a grain of salt by college coaches, the Vols ranked ninth in the SEC in both pass blocking and run blocking grades last season. They allowed 113 pressures, which was 53rd-most in the FBS. UCLA allowed 181 pressures, most in the country last year, according to PFF.
The Vols added two offensive linemen in the portal in the winter window: Arizona transfer Wendell Moe and Notre Dame transfer Sam Pendleton. Both played in 13 games last season; Moe started 12 (mostly at left guard) for the Wildcats, while Pendleton started seven at left guard for the Fighting Irish.
One Power 4 general manager, when asked for his thoughts on the Tennessee offensive line, said he thought it was “fine” last season and speculated that Iamaleava was being advised to blame his departure on football reasons, rather than the failed contract renegotiations.
A former SEC scouting director called the Tennessee O-line “problematic” but that the receivers “certainly were not” to blame.

Iamaleava, while talented, was far from elite last year, totaling eight touchdown passes and five interceptions in eight games against bowl teams. Running back Dylan Sampson (1,491 rushing yards, 22 touchdowns) and the third-best scoring defense in the SEC (16.1 points allowed per game) played key roles in powering Tennessee’s run to the College Football Playoff.

Merklinger, a four-star recruit who was the 11th-ranked quarterback in the 2024 class per 247Sports Composite ratings, has only nine career pass attempts and was the third-string quarterback last year. MacIntyre, also a four-star prospect, was the No. 13 QB in the 2025 class. Both were top-200 recruits.

 

[Harry B]

Didnt he have an agent handling his business?

 

[TUA TAGOVAILOA]

Nico dad and cousin in here trying to spin this shyt like a positive is

 

[jadillac]

I imagine that he is prioritizing the type of football he wants to play and thinks it’ll be better for good career moving forward than staying. Asking for 4 was to tax TN, a place he didn’t want to be and (to him) would hurt his stock. He signed for 2mil with them and left to go to LA for 2mil. So same contract he already had but in LA instead of NW Tennessee.

This is what I personally believe so who tf knows forreal. But his family also just came out and said that’s it’s about football and not the money so it lines up to me. He wants to run his own offense and UCLA will let him. He was taxing TN with the 4mil to make it worthwhile to stay.

C'mon breh, he went to UCLA as a LAST resort BECAUSE it's close to home, and he got decent money. As no one else was willing to pay him.

He screwed himself.

You don't leave a stocked/loaded squad in Tennessee, who just made a playoff in the first yr of the new era, for a ucla team where you will likely have no Oline...going against the likes of Ohio St, Penn St, to a lesser degree but still USC. He's going to get creamed (pause)

Secondly, ucla tho in a ritzy area, NIL is likely TRASH. So he is hamstringing the team and ultimately himself bc they won't be able to afford other pieces around him.

He's gonna get exposed more than he did this past season for not being up to par.

Eric Bienemy got fired from ucla as OC, so we'll see what offense he gets to "run".

And if ucla was the goal, then why shop around ar other schools only to get turned down?

 

[CBalla]

You’ve been gobbling this dudes nuts all week

Haters mad cuz they gotta clock in Id be mad too if I wasnt supporting a young fella going to get paid at the #1 public college in America

 

[L. Deezy]

Ahh, for some reason my brain inferred from the updated thread title as if he got paid more. I wasn't too interested in this story so haven't been paying much attention to it. Well, this kid is a dumbass then lmao.

 

[Harry B]

Haters mad cuz they gotta clock in Id be mad too if I wasnt supporting a young fella going to get paid at the #1 public college in America

Do you support every athlete in the world that gets paid by fine organizations

There’s a difference between not hating and being a supporter

 

[Harry B]

Also missed that the colis favorite coach Bienemy left UCLA for Bears to be a RB coach under a 28 year old OC

What’s going on with his career, with this pace he’ll be coaching high schools in Canada in a few years

 

[CBalla]

Do you support every athlete in the world that gets paid by fine organizations

There’s a difference between not hating and being a supporter

I support college athletes getting paid and trying to get paid more

These cac ass coaches getting 7-15 million a year, lying on kids, leaving kids hanging, I’ll be damned if Im mad at a young kid tryna get paid too