The best is yet to come for Tennessee’s football team if Chattanooga coach Rusty Wright is correct. Consistency at quarterback should only help the Vols in the future.
“The biggest thing now is they have a quarterback that can move that thing forward,” Wright said, referring to Tennessee redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava, during The Dave Hooker Show on Off The Hook Sports. “It’s the guy they’ve been looking for.”
And not just for now. Wright is referring to consistency at the position, which the Vols haven’t had from year to year. Former Vol Hendon Hooker won the job in 2021 after former UT quarterback Joe Milton was injured, but Hooker had just one offseason to fully prepare as the Vols’ starter in 2022, in which he starred. Then, the Vols had to prepare Joe Milton, who started in 2023 with mixed results. What does Tennessee have now with Iamaleava?
“A guy that can grow that offense and they can grow with him instead of the last couple of years (when) you’ve got a guy for a year or two years, whatever it may be,” Wright said. “I think that’s the one thing that’s the biggest thing I see for them.”
That being said, the immediate future is now for Wright and Iamaleava. The Vols kick off the season Saturday when they host the Mocs at 12:45 in Neyland Stadium.
“I think he’s a good player,” Wright said of Iamaleava. “They’ve got a good offense, but I think you’re going to see them really hit their stride middle of the year when he gets some games under his belt and they’re playing at a high level.”
Wright doesn’t just see great things coming from Iamaleava in the future. He also thinks the Vols are fundamentally sound on offense in the trenches.
“For how they play and what they do, how efficient everything is,” Wright said, “the biggest thing is how they run the football…They run the football at you and they’re able to pop off runs and do those things.”
Those “things” are what the Mocs will be looking out for this weekend.
