What started as a leak that could have been addressed has now turned into a full-blown PR battle. A day after ON3 reported that Nico Iamaleava was renegotiating his NIL contract with Tennessee Football, later refuted by Iamaleava’s father on X, the Vols quarterback was not at practice Friday morning, a day before the Orange and White game.
Making matters worse, after ON3 and then Pete Thamel reported this news, Chris Low of ESPN went into further detail on his X account. Low reports the staff and players were surprised he wasn’t at practice. Further reporting revealed that he wanted $4 million during the winter window, and his side was trying to negotiate that again before the spring window opened.
Apparently, the administration and players, according to Low, were growing increasingly frustrated with the situation. Given the fact that Low tweeted all this out after Iamaleava missed practice, we can safely assume that Tennessee Football wasn’t willing to give him those details until all this blew up.
That means Iamaleava has wrecked his relationship with the Vols.
Sorry, but how do you come back from this? Iamaleava didn’t blow anybody away last year with his production. Fans saw potential but not what they expected. Although there was still promise he would take another step this year, it appeared as if he and his team were willing to use leverage that many seem he hadn’t earned.
Skipping practice as the quarterback and the leader of the team sends a really bad message to the other players and coaches. You simply can’t do it, and regardless of what you’re dealing with, you’re giving off the vibe that you have quit on your team at that point. This didn’t even seem to be the Vols’ fault.
Well, now Tennessee football appears to have quit on him. Josh Heupel, Danny White and everybody else seem to be saying he’s welcome to walk out the door tomorrow if he wants to. They’ve had enough. Honestly, there’s no way Iamaleava can come back from that with his team.
If Iamaleava gets a better offer elsewhere, he’s obviously gone. However, if he doesn’t and comes back, he’s lost the locker room, the last thing you can afford to do as a quarterback. All the talk of chemistry that Heupel touted for years will go out the window, and that could lead to a disaster.
Probably the only way out of this is for Iamaleava to cut ties with his family. Blame them, his agents and any party involved, then rejoin Tennessee football and say he’s focused on winning with his teammates and brothers. Outside of that, this relationship is probably over.
