Josh Heupel makes the most encouraging comment yet about Vols QB Nico Iamaleava
The Tennessee Vols kicked off spring practice on Monday and one of the big topics was quarterback Nico Iamaleava
The Tennessee Vols held their first 2023 spring practice on Monday and one of the main topics of interest, unsurprisingly, was true freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
Iamaleava is one of the most hyped quarterbacks in recent memory after his highly-publicized recruitment ended with the California native landing with Tennessee amid rumors of an $8 million NIL deal.
The No. 1 overall player in the 2023 recruiting class will start the season as the primary backup to starting quarterback Joe Milton.
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel met with reporters on Monday after the Vols' first spring practice and he was quickly asked about Iamaleava.
Specifically, Heupel was asked how hard Nico will be pushed this spring and whether or not the young quarterback is "coachable".
Heupel's response was full of nothing but praise for Iamaleava. And there was one comment from Heupel about Nico that should be particularly exciting for Tennessee fans.
"He's extremely coachable," said Heupel on Monday morning. "From the moment that he stepped foot on campus — that's bowl preparation to coming back here [at the] end of January when we started the winter semester — has been phenomenal. He's got great urgency. He cares a great deal about learning his craft, learning our offense, but learning his craft at the quarterback position. Takes coaching extremely well. You know, he resets [and] moves on to the next play at a really high level. He's come in, he's worked — guys believe in him. And I'm just talking about how he carries himself. And slowly you've seen him start to grow into taking more ownership. He's still really young, but excited to have these 15 days with him."
Nico should technically still be in high school right now, so it wouldn't be fair to put massive expectations on him this spring. But it sounds like Iamaleava would be meeting those high expectations regardless of his youth.
The comment from Heupel about "guys believing" in Nico is extremely important. Being an elite leader is arguably one of the most important traits a quarterback can possess.
If a quarterback has all the physical tools but he isn't a good leader, he's probably not going to find a high level of success in college football.
The fact that Tennessee's players are already believing in Iamaleava is a great sign for the future. So far, Iamaleava is as advertised. He still has a lot to prove, but he's pushing all the right buttons during his first couple of months as a Vol.
