Typically, when recent college graduates speak highly of their former teammates, you should take it with a grain of salt. They will say what they’re supposed to say. It’s all just lip service. However, that’s not the case with what former Vols said about Tennessee Football quarterback Nico Iamaleava at the NFL Combine.
Dylan Sampson, Bru McCoy and Dont’e Thornton, the three offensive teammates of Iamaleava at the event, hailed specific praise on him, according to a report from Patrick Brown of 247Sports. The compliments were detailed enough and came from the right people to the point that they mean something.
Let’s start with McCoy, who was specific about the Tennessee Football future in numerous ways, including calling out running back DeSean Bishop as a future UT star. McCoy said Iamaleava’s confidence would continue to grow with age AND having Mike Matthews at receiver.
Naming Matthews specifically is a big deal, as that suggests he could live up to his five-star hype with a year in the system as well. McCoy was a leader on last year’s team and seems to be a great evaluator of talent, and he noted that while Iamaleava is improving physically, Josh Heupel’s offense also just gets easier to run with more experience.
Sampson said Iamaleava would “take that team over,” a big statement for a running back who also managed to be a leader on the team last year. In fact, Iamaleava’s slow growth led to Sampson having to shoulder a larger burden. As a result, you can’t dismiss those comments either.
Thornton, meanwhile, insisted Iamaleava was always prepared for big games. He noted that Iamaleava was ready for the spotlight, no matter what would show on camera. Once again, that’s specific praise and a big deal coming from him, even if he was Iamaleava’s top receiver.
You can click on the article for the specific quotes, but the point here is that there is reason to believe in Iamaleava’s superstar potential. McCoy’s comments on his development and Matthews taking another step are what stand out the most from this.
Remember, a problem for the Vols this past year was the fact that McCoy was coming off an injury and couldn’t dictate coverage the way UT needed him to. Matthews, if he lives up to his five-star billing and McCoy’s praise, would be able to do that, which would change the whole offense.
As far as taking time to pick up the Heupel offense, that wasn’t an issue for McCoy, who stepped in immediately in 2022 after Cedric Tillman went down, but he had a lot more experience. Iamaleava was in his first year as a starter at this level, so that comment better applies.
Taking all this into account, though, former Vols should alleviate concerns among Tennessee Football fans about whether or not Iamaleava is the right guy. These aren’t just throwaway comments, and the nature of them make that clear. How much it means remains to be seen.
