‘I was dead wrong’ – Urban Meyer makes honest admission about Nico Iamaleava, Joey Aguilar, and the Tennessee Vols
When Nico Iamaleava left the Tennessee Vols to join the UCLA Bruins near the end of spring practice, former Florida Gators and Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer said UT football was toast. “Here’s the reality is Tennessee is screwed,” said Meyer in April. “I mean, they are. They got a problem. You lose […]
When Nico Iamaleava left the Tennessee Vols to join the UCLA Bruins near the end of spring practice, former Florida Gators and Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer said UT football was toast.
“Here’s the reality is Tennessee is screwed,” said Meyer in April. “I mean, they are. They got a problem. You lose a potential high draft pick. You have the backup quarterback (Gaston Moore) left last year, and now you have a redshirt freshman (Jake Merklinger) that threw nine passes and a (true) freshman (George MacIntyre). You have zero experience, and the portal opens as we speak. They are going to have to go get one.”
“And here’s the thing, there’s a couple key elements here,” continued Meyer. “Everybody’s saying, hey, nice job Tennessee, making a stand. I’ve got a little comment on that. Tennessee plays Florida usually every year in October. Can you imagine that game’s going the other way and Coach Heupel grabs the microphone and stands on the 50-yard line in Neyland Stadium and says, ‘Hey, it’s OK, I made a stand way back when.’”
Five months later and Meyer is acknowledging that he missed the mark on that take.
Urban Meyer says he was “dead wrong” about the Tennessee Vols
Tennessee replaced Iamaleava with Joey Aguilar, who was set to start for the Bruins this fall before the Iamaleava drama played out the way it did.
Aguilar won the Vols’ starting quarterback job during fall camp and has quickly become a fan favorite in Knoxville, thanks in part to his standout performance in Tennessee’s overtime loss to the Georgia Bulldogs this past weekend.
The California native passed for 371 yards and accounted for five touchdowns against the Bulldogs.
“UCLA makes the worst trade in the history of trades and Tennessee lands this guy (Aguilar),” said Meyer this week on The Triple Option. “I don’t know this guy (Aguilar), but he must be a monster. And I was the first guy, when Nico left, I said, D-U-N, done. It’s over in Knoxville. How do you lose a quarterback with that talent? I was dead wrong. Dead wrong. That kid played his — I know they lost, but he played his ass off, man.”
Meyer isn’t a popular guy on Rocky Top — thanks to the way his Florida teams terrorized the Vols back in the mid to late 2000s — but credit to him for owning a take that aged poorly.
Now he just needs to work on his spelling. D-U-N? Really? Come on, Urban.
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