Nico Iamaleava took over as the starting quarterback for the Tennessee Volunteers at the 2024 Citrus Bowl. He went on to lead them to the College Football Playoff during the ensuing 2024 campaign. Ultimately, they were walloped by the eventual national champion Ohio State Buckeyes in the first round, but the season was still a success, as Iamaleava guided them to a 10-3 record — their second-best since 2007.
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Iamaleava was none too shabby either, throwing for over 2,600 yards with 19 TDs and five INTs. He was also effective as a runner, rumbling for 358 yards and three scores during the campaign. After that promising first season as a starter, Iamaleava believed he was deserving of a raise. So, he decided to rework his NIL deal with Tennessee. In an effort to gain leverage in negotiations, he even skipped practice ahead of the spring game.
However, Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel called his bluff, and on Saturday, he announced that the team would be moving on from Iamaleava at quarterback. In this new era of increased transfer activity, Iamaleava is likely to hit the transfer portal quickly — and maybe that was his plan all along. However, with NIL deals in play, could the 20-year-old QB’s attempted power move be a sign of things to come?
CBS analyst Adam Breneman called Iamaleava’s move and subsequent ousting a “redefining moment” in this age of NCAA sports.
“This is a redefining moment in the NIL era in college sports. We have a quarterback, a five-star quarterback, who’s using leverage to try to get what he’s worth, and now he’s off the team completely before the season starts,” he started.
“Whether you agree with it or not, this is the new reality. Big-time players know their value and are willing to take bold stances to get what they’re worth.”
Breneman went on to explain why what Iamaleava did—and how the Volunteers responded—was such a watershed moment for a few reasons. The first is that it puts on display how college student-athletes are now willing to use leverage to secure the value they believe they deserve. They can lean on agents and mid-contract negotiations to their advantage.
The second reason is that the fluidity of movement with the combination of NIL and the transfer portal makes roster stability “more fragile than ever.” Essentially, programs will have to prepare for the possibility of rebuilding large portions of their rosters on a year-to-year basis, making continuity and chemistry much harder to maintain.
To Breneman, the biggest shift is the impact on coaches. They’re no longer just football minds — now, they have to be man-managers and negotiators too.
Culture is a big part of college football. Having so much turnover makes it difficult to build on campus. However, if programs can establish a smart, shrewd department to handle NIL contracts and negotiations, they’ll see higher player retention, which in turn will help foster a stronger culture.
“College football is now about contracts, retention, and if you can add culture on top of it, you’ll win championships. But it is difficult in today’s era. And this sends a message that NIL is not just a nice to have now in college football, it is the foundation of roster management in 2025.”
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There’s no doubt this is the “NIL era” of college sports right now. While some may have seen it as a gimmick at first, it appears to be here to stay and is already causing major changes in the NCAA football landscape.
