Is Lane Kiffin trying to poison the Tennessee Vols' locker room?
Is Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin trying to poison the Tennessee Vols' locker room? It certainly feels that way. Kiffin recently appeared on The Rich Eisen Show and had plenty to say about Tennessee and five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava. Iamaleava recently committed to Tennessee and it's been rumored that he received a NIL (name, […]
Is Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin trying to poison the Tennessee Vols' locker room?
It certainly feels that way.
Kiffin recently appeared on The Rich Eisen Show and had plenty to say about Tennessee and five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
Iamaleava recently committed to Tennessee and it's been rumored that he received a NIL (name, image, and likeness) deal worth $8 million before his commitment.
There has been no confirmation that Iamaleava is being paid $8 million to play for Tennessee, but there's plenty of evidence that suggests that's the case.
Kiffin, who was the head coach of the Vols in 2009, is confident that Nico was paid $8 million. And during his recent appearance on The Rich Eisen Show, he attempted to insinuate that Tennessee will have locker room issues because of the $8 million deal.
“You’re going to have all these locker room dynamics, you’ve got a player coming into school over there in East Tennessee for $8 million who hasn’t played a down," said Kiffin. “You’ve got a locker room saying, wait, what if the guy doesn’t play, how’s that going to work? How’s the donor going to feel that paid all that money when the guy’s not playing. You’ve got a lot of things that haven’t been figured out at all."
This is typical Kiffin. He's always trying to keep things stirred up and create controversy. I'm sure his hope here is that he'll be able to create some locker room drama for Tennessee.
For what it's worth, though, it doesn't appear that any of Tennessee's players have an issue with Nico and his alleged NIL deal.
Kiffin is a master at using the media to his advantage. But I don't think his attempt to poison the Vols' locker room is going to work like he's hoping it will.
Players have been getting paid for decades. All kinds of different amounts. If Nico is receiving $8 million to play at Tennessee, he's far from the first quarterback to receive a substantial amount of cash to sigh with a college program.
What Kiffin doesn't seem to realize is that professional sports have had situations like this for a long time. Minor league baseball has players barely getting by playing alongside first-round picks that received a seven-figure signing bonus.
What ultimately matters is the performance on the field. If Nico doesn't play at a high level in college, it won't be the first time an athlete didn't live up to their "contract". It happens every year in sports.
Kiffin can try all he wants to stir up some controversy in Knoxville, but it's not going to work. This is the future of college football at every program in the nation. And Tennessee will be no different in how they manage NIL deals and the locker room than any other program in the nation — regardless of whether or not Kiffin is trying to start drama.
Featured image via Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
