Earning SEC Freshman of the Week honors isn’t the best praise Tennessee Football quarterback Nico Iamaleava received after throwing for over 300 yards in a half in the Vols’ 69-13 win over the Chattanooga Mocs. The best came from his head coach.
When asked about Iamaleava’s play, what Heupel didn’t say is the revealing part. While talking about so many other players who could get better in different areas, Heupel simply touted Iamaleava’s play while tampering expectations for him on Monday.
“I thought he was extremely accurate and had his eyes in the right spot,” Heupsl said. “Did a really good job of hitting windows; that’s in-between defenders at the second level and over-under balls between the second and third level.”
Notice there was no mention of “he can get better” in that quote. That’s for a reason. Heupel, to his credit, has nothing he can criticize his quarterback for. He said that about the defensive line, offensive line and secondary but was noticeably silent about Iamaleava.
In fact, in a diplomatic way, Heupel found himself taking a shot what Joe Milton III couldn’t do. He basically dove into the exact part of Iamaleava’s game that has allowed them to expand their offense early into the 2024 season.
“Last year, we weren’t as efficient in the middle of the field as we wanted to be,” he said. “Had a good start to it this past week.”
That’s an obvious statement that Iamaleava can make throws over the middle Milton can’t. He had two touchdowns working the middle of the field, one to Ethan Davis and another to Dont’e Thornton. However, Heupel saying that exemplifies how significant it is.
This doesn’t mean Heupel isn’t working to keep Iamaleava humble. After all, in his typical press conference fashion, he didn’t go out of his way to praise the Tennessee Football quarterback for the honor he received from the SEC.
“It means that he played well in Week 1 and had an opportunity to grow, learn from the tape today and get ready for a really good football team this week,” he said of Iamaleava earning SEC Freshman of the Week. “Young quarterback who is going to continue to get better. Great test this week that we have coming up in NC State.”
Still, Heupel didn’t even criticize Iamaleava there. This subtle pattern of non-statements makes one thing clear. Heupel knows he’s got an elite talent passing for Tennessee Football right now, and he simply can’t hide how excited he is over it.
