Josh Heupel explains how Tennessee Vols QB Nico Iamaleava can improve in 2025
Tennessee Vols QB Nico Iamaleava had a hit or miss first season as the team's starting quarterback in 2024. He was on most of the time when the team really needed him to be in key moments in the regular season. Crucial second half plays against Alabama and Florida helped deliver huge home wins they […]
Tennessee Vols QB Nico Iamaleava had a hit or miss first season as the team's starting quarterback in 2024. He was on most of the time when the team really needed him to be in key moments in the regular season.
Crucial second half plays against Alabama and Florida helped deliver huge home wins they had to have. He also turned it on after a slow start to help Tennessee climb out of an early 14-0 hole to beat Vanderbilt and clinch the program's first-ever playoff spot.
That said, there were far too many times where the passing game would completely disappear for stretches. Some blame surely goes to Tennessee's pass catchers there, but a fair share of that also falls on Nico.
What will it take for the Vols' starting signal caller to improve in 2025? Per Josh Heupel at his press conference on Friday, there are a number of things the Vols' redshirt sophomore quarterback can work on this offseason.
"Command and control of what we're doing offensively," Heupel said. "Better with his eyes. Fundamental position to be accurate with the football. Leadership. It's the checklist of playing the quarterback position. All of those things. He's got a chance to continue to get better at. I like a lot of what he did. There's some areas that I was just talking about that he can be better at.
"As a quarterback, a big part of your job is creating urgency for the ten guys around you to play at a really high level, too. That leadership role, that's not just verbally. It's how you're accelerating the mindset and the growth of the guys around you.
"So, all of those things play into what he has been working on, and what he's got to continue to throughout the course of the offseason."
It's interesting to hear Heupel double back to mention leadership multiple times in his response. It doesn't really seem like Heupel is talking about leadership from the perspective of locker room talk – although the Vols have a void there after the departure of Dylan Sampson, who was one of the top leaders on the roster the last two years.
It seems like it's more of becoming a leader through improved play and actions on the field. Playing at a level high enough that you encourage or inspire your teammates to be better to keep up. And certainly Iamaleava playing better will help bring out the best in his pass catchers and those protecting him.
Nico wasn't bad last season statistically by any means. He completed 63.8% of his passes for 2616 yards with 19 touchdowns and only 5 interceptions. The big mistake didn't happen often, which is obviously good, but the passing game couldn't help sustain drives far too often in conference play.
Tennessee's offense just barely kept up with their elite defense at times last year. With a significant number of those key contributors on the defense off to the NFL, Tennessee will need Nico to take a step forward in 2025 for the Vols to get back to the playoff and improve upon last season.
Now we know what Heupel will have his eye on to gauge that progress.
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