'He basically told me to lose his number' – Reporter who broke news about drama with Vols and Nico Iamaleava tells his side of story
One of the biggest college football stories of the offseason was easily the unexpected breakup between the Tennessee Vols and quarterback Nico Iamaleava. During the first part of the offseason, it seemed that Tennessee and Iamaleava were in lockstep with each other. Iamaleava appeared to be growing more comfortable in his role as a leader […]
One of the biggest college football stories of the offseason was easily the unexpected breakup between the Tennessee Vols and quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
During the first part of the offseason, it seemed that Tennessee and Iamaleava were in lockstep with each other. Iamaleava appeared to be growing more comfortable in his role as a leader while looking to build on his solid redshirt freshman season (which resulted in the Vols' first ever College Football Playoff appearance).
However, a bombshell report from On3's Pete Nakos, just days before Tennessee wrapped up spring practice, changed everything about the Vols' offseason.
Nakos reported on April 10 that Iamaleava was in active contract negotiations with Tennessee.
Later that night, Iamaleava's father, Nic, responded to the report with some colorful language about Nakos.
"More games being played off the field than on the field," tweeted Iamaleava's father. "Bi7ch [sic] Nakos from On3sports called and asked me directly, I told him I had no idea on what he's talking about. He said his 'close source' that he trusts with his life from the University of Tennessee staff gave him information. So y'all can ask them what's going on, cuz it ain't from us!"
The next day (Friday), Iamaleava was a no-show for Tennessee's penultimate spring practice. On Saturday, the Vols and Iamaleava officially parted ways.
Iamaleava, who is from southern California, eventually transferred to UCLA.
Tennessee then landed UCLA quarterback Joey Aguilar as a transfer addition (Aguilar will battle redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and true freshman George MacIntyre for the starting quarterback job at Tennessee this summer).
Nakos recently joined the Gramlich & Mac Lain show and he talked about the experience of breaking the initial Iamaleava news.
"I'm the kind of guy who wakes up and really wants to get to the office," explained Nakos. "I'm not going to sleep in. But that day, I had a doctor's appointment, so, I was like alright, my day is already off. What's going to happen when I walk in at 10 am? I can't imagine it's gonna be that eventful of a day. And I got a phone call from a source, and it's like, 'Hey, we're pretty confident Nico is going to enter the transfer portal'. And I'm like, 'What? You're screwing with me, I don't believe you'. But they're like, 'No, stuff went down yesterday and we think he can go in the portal'. And this was a source that had nothing to do with Tennessee or Nico's camp, but [it was] someone in the college football space who would know what they're talking about.
"And you know, the funny thing in hindsight is that ESPN did kind of a deep dive into all this, I don't know, like, two weeks after it happened, and they did come out and say Nico made some comments on Wednesday to some [teammates]. So that was funny to read. But I got that call on Thursday, and then your radar goes up. You start trying to make the phone calls, like, okay, what's going on? And you quickly discover that Tennessee is in this situation where it's clear that Nico's camp would like some more money before the 2025 season kicks off. And the portal opens in five or six days. The spring game's in two days. It's all going to come to a tipping point. So [I] talked to Tennessee, I talked to his dad that day, too. Had a phone call with him where he basically told me to lose his number."
"And we get to this point where it's like, okay, so we know all this is going on," continued Nakos. "We're not going to just sit here and wait for it to happen. So we decide to, after talking to plenty of sources and trying to vet this thing, we decided to put out that we're comfortable reporting that there are active negotiations that Nico is making 2.4 (million), he loves Josh Heupel, he loves Tennessee, but they want some more money. And not everyone loved that. And that's fine. And I know you're going to ask me about this, but as a reporter and doing what I do, I'm not trying to dance on a grave at the end of the day, right? Obviously, when I report something, I stand by it. I have the sources that say it, and I trust my sources. I've vetted my sources, and I stand by it. So when I report a story, it's not to get one over on someone. But I still can't believe everything went down the way it did after we hit publish on that story."
"Driving home that day, I definitely [knew] I was dragged all across social media, and it wasn't a fun day," added Nakos. "And Nico's dad sent me some text messages, too — it wasn't ideal and it wasn't a good spot to be in. And people were coming out trying to report things, too, of like, hey, this is wrong, this is not what we're hearing. And then Friday happened (Nico missing practice) and the rest was history."
One conflicting report about the Nico saga came from Fox Sports' Joel Klatt, who noted the week after the news broke that there was more to the story than "just money".
"The news is that he's demanding more money, Tennessee said no, pound sand, and now he's leaving," said Klatt in April. "I'm here to tell you [that] there's a lot more to that story. That is a narrative being pushed — and think about it, this makes sense, he's a 20/21 year old kid. And now he's alone and team-less with no PR behind him whatsoever. Meanwhile, the University of Tennessee has their entire apparatus and fan base against this kid. Of course this is the narrative that's going to be pushed.
"But I'm here to tell you there's always more to the story. Now, did he demand more money, him or his people? Probably. Did he also, I've been told, ask that the offense grow a little bit, because of what I was just discussing about the draft process for quarterbacks going into the NFL? Yes he did. And I think he was unhappy and I think his people and his team were unhappy with the way that spring ball was going, in particular seeing that the offense was not changing and was not growing. This is the old Art Briles/Baylor offense that Tennessee uses. No quarterback has really succeeded going from that offense and into the NFL."
"So there was some discussion about this growth of the offense that I don't feel like they thought took place," continued Klatt. "So there's more to this story than just money. There always is. And unfortunately for him, he's being pitted as the villain in the story. Now, did he ask for more money? Probably, likely. Who's the real villain in this story though? Is it Tennessee? No. Is it Josh Heupel? No. Is it the boosters? No. Is it Nico Iamaleava? No. It is the NCAA. They abdicated their responsibility to govern the sport."
It's been two months since Iamaleava left Tennessee and there are still differing opinions on who's to blame for the entire situation.
I think poor communication, hastily made decisions (on both sides), and an unregulated economic/transfer system is ultimately to blame.
But really, it was just an unfortunate situation for everyone involved. Tennessee fans badly wanted Iamaleava when he was a five-star uncommitted recruit. And he was completely embraced by Vols fans when he eventually signed with Tennessee. Many of those same fans, however, were the ones trashing the 20-year-old quarterback on social media, burning his jersey, and lighting up his phone with absurd Venmo requests.
Maybe it's just me, but I'm not eager to figure out who was "right" or "wrong" in this situation. It doesn't matter. The situation is what it is regardless of who should shoulder most of the blame. I'm just hopeful both sides move forward in a positive way and find success. Nothing good ever comes from holding a grudge.
