Tennessee and QB Nico Iamaleava are in the midst of a standoff. Iamaleava was one of the top returning quarterbacks in the SEC after leading the Vols to the College Football Playoff last season. Now, Iamaleava is holding out for a big raise from the school. Reports indicate that Tennessee won't blink.
On3's Pete Nakos first reported that Iamaleava and Tennessee were in contract discussions with the QB wanting a bigger payday. Despite Iamaleava's father putting Nakos on blast early on Friday, it became obvious that Nakos' reporting was in fact correct once news broke that Iamaleava had skipped Tennessee's practice on Friday, just 24 hours before their spring game.
The spring Transfer Portal window opens up on April 16th. Insiders seem to believe it's more likely than not that Iamaleava will be entering the portal and shopping himself to other schools.
If and when Iamaleava does enter the Transfer Portal, Alabama - and all the other SEC schools - will not factor into his recruitment. SEC rules prohibit an intra-conference transfer in the spring portal window. If Iamaleava wanted to transfer to an SEC program, he would have to sit out a year. Considering he's eligible for the 2026 NFL Draft, that's not happening.
Even if that SEC rule didn't exist, it's unlikely that Kalen DeBoer and the Crimson Tide would entertain Iamaleava. Alabama seems content with their current QB room and didn't target any quarterbacks in the portal during the winter window. Disrupting locker room chemistry at this point in time would make little sense anyway, even if Iamaleava seems like a prototypical fit for DeBoer's offensive system.
Iamaleava would be looking at programs outside of the SEC. And with his reported demands, it seems obvious that he would be shopping himself to the highest bidder. Who that will be remains to be seen.
Regardless of your feelings for Tennessee, the Nico Iamaleava saga is more bad news for college football
It's no secret that Alabama fans have no love lost for Tennessee. Some fans consider the Vols a bigger rival than Auburn. Seeing drama and unrest in Knoxville is usually a source of joy in Tuscaloosa.
But the Iamaleava saga is more bad news for college football and shines a bigger spotlight on a sport that is pretty much unrecognizable from what it was just five years ago. There's no loyalty left; it's all about the money.
The one good thing that could come out of this is that it should help to accelerate guardrails that are surely coming down the road. A popular rumour making the rounds on social media is that there was heavy tampering for Iamaleava and/or his camp has been shopping him around to other programs.
Regardless of what's true in this scenario, both of those things are problematic and are widespread issues across the sport right now. Something has got to give, and soon, or this once beautiful game will be forever tarnished.