Former Tennessee Vols QB Nico Iamaleava reportedly makes decision on his future at UCLA
Former Tennessee Vols QB Nico Iamaleava has reportedly made a decision on his football future.
Former Tennessee Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava has reportedly made a decision on his future with the UCLA Bruins.
Iamaleava spent the first two seasons of his college career at Tennessee (2023 and 2024) before transferring to UCLA this past spring.
The former five-star recruit had an up-and-down season in 2025 as the Bruins fired their head coach and offensive coordinator. Iamaleava, however, led UCLA to an upset win over Penn State in October.
There was some speculation that Iamaleava would transfer this offseason to find a better situation. On3’s Hayes Fawcett, though, reported on Monday that Iamaleava has re-signed with UCLA.
I don’t find it surprising that Iamaleava is sticking around at UCLA for another season. For starters, Los Angeles is home for Iamaleava, so it makes sense that he’d prefer to stay close to home.
Secondly, it became clear last season that Iamaleava was committed to UCLA by the way he reacted to the Bruins’ firing head coach DeShaun Foster and offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri.
Iamaleava rallied the locker room and was a key factor in no one leaving the program during the season.
“There was just a lot outside noise coming in [to this game],” said Iamaleava after the win over Penn State. “I was just preaching to the guys that if y’all don’t want to be here, then leave. I was basically telling the guys that whoever still believes, we’re still in this. And that we still have games ahead of us that we can go win.”
UCLA will open the 2026 season on the road against California.
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