"Nico Iamaleava made an emotional decision" - Tennessee insider bashes ex-Vols QB over controversial exit

Nico Iamaleava's choice to leave the Tennessee Volunteers has been one of the major stories during the off-season. The departure over a NIL dispute shocked the college football world and has potentially set a new precedent for players who want to leave.

On the latest edition of the Crain and Company, college football analyst John from the "Sports Talk J podcast" spoke about Iamaleava's decision to leave.

"Nico made an emotional decision. Things went completely off the rails. (Timestamp: 3:01) Then Nico made a decision of a 19 20 year old, based on emotions."

Iamaleava's decision to leave the Tennessee Volunteers was an emotional one and had nothing to do with his on-field performances with the Volunteers. If one were to remove these emotions from the situation, there is no reason why Iamaleava would leave the program.

He had just come off a strong freshman season with the Volunteers, leading them to a College Football Playoff spot. He was guaranteed to be the starting quarterback of the program for years to come, and there was a good chance that the Vols would contend for a national championship soon enough.

But in reality, Iamaleava (and his father, who played a large role in the decision) was unhappy about his earnings from his NIL deal. His displeasure led to his refusal to show up for training camp.

After the news broke, Tennessee coach Josh Heupel decided to drop Iamaleava as the Volunteers' starting quarterback, and a few days later, he entered the transfer portal.

Due to an emotional reaction to something that does not massively affect how a player acts on the field, Nico Iamaleava lost his chance to lead one of the biggest programs in college football. He is now with the UCLA Bruins, hoping to make them competitive in a strong Big Ten.

Newly recruited Tennessee QB on why he joined the Volunteers

With Iamaleava gone, and newly brought in QB Joey Aguliar not going to stay for long, the Volunteers have been preparing their future recruitment classes to find a potential replacement. This has led to the program recruiting Fazion Brandon. On Thursday, he explained why he chose Tennessee over fellow SEC side Alabama:

"It was very close (between Tennessee and Alabama), but it just really came down to the coaches. I just seemed like I had a better connection when I really looked back at it."

Brandon is a five-star prospect and is seen by 247Sports as the best player in the 2026 class. This means that there is already a lot of attention on the player, and a good senior year in high school, paired with a strong performance in training camp, could put him in the same position as Iamaleava was: A young QB leading the program.

For Tennessee's sake, let's hope this story has a better ending.