On Friday the day before the Tennessee Spring Game, Nico Iamaleava was a no-show. He missed team meetings and practice and no one could get him on the phone.
Late Friday night, according to ESPN reporter Chris Low, the quarterback informed Tennessee offensive coordinator Joey Halzle that he'd completed his paperwork and intended to enter the NCAA transfer portal next week.
Saturday morning, Volunteer coach Josh Heupel announced the school had cut ties with their starting quarterback, no longer with the team.
Iamaleava's NIL deal paid him $2.4 million last year. He wanted a raise to four million. Last season he ranked 7th in the SEC in passer rating, 10th in yards per game, 32nd in the country in passer rating.
The Vols finished with a 10-3 record, out in the first round of the playoffs, 9th in the final AP Poll.
The rumor was that it was Oregon coach Dan Lanning who first tipped off the UT staff that Iamaleava and his handlers were shopping the quarterback prior to entering the portal. After the Ducks' first scrimmage of spring Lanning declined to comment, saying he was just here to talk about Oregon football.
Players deserve to be compensated. They are the engine of a multi-billion-dollar industry. Iamaleava's bid to renegotiate his deal is just the latest indication that the current chaotic arrangement in the sport is broken and untenable.
The first came last fall when UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka dropped out after leading the Rebels to a 3-0 start, stating that he hadn't received a promised $100,000 NIL package.
My opinion. Stop blaming the athletes. It's not their fault they want more cheddar. What can’t get lost in the Nico NIL saga is this: the blame doesn’t belong to the athletes. The real issue is a broken system — a multi-billion-dollar industry with zero guardrails.
— Shannon Terry (@ShannonTerry) April 13, 2025
And we don’t…
Assigning blame isn't the point. What's clear is that the sport needs leadership and structure. It's time to put aside the hand-wringing over whether the players are employees. They are. The game needs a collective bargaining agreement and standardized contracts. It needs continuity rather than chaos.
Start by giving the athletes a contract that binds them to a school for two years. It won't prevent the holdouts and disputes, or the messy and destructive possibility of a future players' strike, but at least there'd be a foundation, an effort toward common sense.
And please, appoint a strong commissioner with broad powers and a clear vision for the game tomorrow. Give the job to Nick Saban if he'd take it, but find someone to speak for the fans and the sport. Unrestricted, unregulated free agency doesn't work for anyone, though chaos is a ladder. The Ducks have managed it as well as anyone.
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