No program knows more about getting closer, and achieving new heights, after losing a big star than Tennessee football. This is the school that won the national championship after losing Peyton Manning to the NFL, after all. The loss of Nico Iamaleava may have had a similar effect.
Before you freak out, I’m not comparing Manning to Iamaleava in any way. However, in different ways, both could have been considered distractions for the college team they played on because they took up all the headlines. In Manning’s case, it was his greatness.
Iamaleava, however, took up headlines with Tennessee football giving him $2 million a year, fighting the NCAA on his behalf and acquiescing to his dad’s demands. When it all blew up and he left after spring practice, there seemed to be a sign that they had lifted a weight off their shoulders.
Josh Heupel and all three players attending SEC Media Days said as much on Tuesday. Bryson Eason, Miles Kitselman and Arion Carter all made illuminating comments about the situation. According to Heupel, the expectations for the program didn’t change at all with Iamaleava’s departure.
“The media’s expectations certainly changed. Ours did not,” he said. “I think how you work can either give you a hope, a belief or an expectation to actually go make that happen, and our guys expect to win.”
Of course, what those expectations are could be person to person within the program. Is it a return to the College Football Playoff? Do the Vols need to go further this year? Were they not expected to go to the CFP given their schedule this year anyway?
As a defensive lineman, Eason would understand more than most that this is a team sport and goes beyond the quarterback, particularly at the college level. He provided his own insight into teams writing UT off just because they lost Iamaleava to the portal.
“If anybody is sweeping us under the rug and thinks we’re going to be mediocre just because we lost Nico, that’s cool,” he said. “Let them think that way. There’s more than one person on the field, you know what I’m saying?”
Kitselman took it a step further. He predicted that, as the Iamaleava departure pushes the Vols under the radar, they will shock the world by starting 7-0 this year. That would specifically require beating the Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide.
“Nobody’s bigger than the T, and if they don’t want to be here, that’s awesome because we’re going to bring somebody in that does want to be here,” he said. “I just love it how we truly do have this chip on our shoulder and that there’s not a whole lot of spotlight on us right now.”
He told the media themselves he loves that they don’t expect much out of them. Beyond expectations, Kitselman drew an analogy to moving onto the next play on the field regardless of what happened previous. He said that translates to life and how teams should approach situations like the Iamaleava situation off the field as well.
“It was like, OK, he’s gone. It is what it is,” he said. “Let’s plug and replace. Who are we going to bring in?”
Taking all this into account, Iamaleava’s departure seems to have put a chip on the shoulder of all Tennessee football players. It may have put pressure on all them to step their game up a bit too, which can happen. As a result, the Vols should be in great shape going forward.
