Rocky Ending in Rocky Top

(Image/Johnnie Izquierdo, Getty Images)

By: Lucas Kochevar

The tide has been changing in the NIL version of college football and one of the biggest dominoes fell as Nico Iameleva has left Tennessee. The Volunteers 2024 starting QB is entering the spring transfer window in an unprecedented move. The NIL era has been an adjustment period and we’ve seen players jump around for obscene amounts, but this is the first time a big-time program has downright refused to meet the demands of a young star. 

It’ll be interesting to see if this is the type of move that’ll make its way to other big time programs. I’m not talking about star recruits that lose the starting job, that’s common. I’m talking about no doubt starters. 

Frankly, the Volunteers are right in their assessment of the situation.

Iamaleva wants a number that compares to Miami’s offer to Carson Beck, but he barely has the production to match what Beck has done. You can point to numerous big games where Iamaleva didn’t show up. They either lost the big games or it was the defense that rose to the occasion. In the time of player empowerment, Tennessee didn’t let Iamaleva stand above the team. 

Iamaleva has been dubbed as one of the next big QB prospects for the 2026 NFL draft, but he decided to chase the payday a year early. Iamaleva completed his first season as Tennessee’s full-time QB with a playoff appearance and 19 touchdowns. 

Another fascinating aspect of this move is the NFL side of this. NFL teams take into account every little thing before the draft. How can a player command a locker room full of grown men after pulling a stunt like this in college? It’ll take a lot of damage control and stellar play for NFL teams to look past whatever this weird saga is. 

He should have plenty of suitors now that he’s in the portal and a team that makes a ton of sense to me: USC Trojans. With an NIL collective that is willing to spend, the Trojans QB situation improves with one move. On the field, the fit with USC’s system under Lincoln Riley makes a ton of sense to me. Team’s that also have deep pockets and QB questions include Ohio State and Notre Dame.