The month of April was a strange time for the Tennessee Volunteers. Nico Iamaleava, in whom the team had invested so much time, suddenly decided to transfer. Rumors and speculation swirled endlessly, making it the biggest story in college football for a while. Iamaleava was even rumored to have told his teammates he was planning to enter the transfer portal.
“I'm getting in the portal, if you need to handle your business," Iamaleava said while walking off the field.
The end of his Tennessee career was far from ideal. Once a fan favorite, he quickly became the ultimate villain after skipping practice the day before the Tennessee Spring Game. On the Try That in a Small Town podcast, Kirk Herbstreit offered one explanation he had heard for Iamaleava’s departure.
“You got to get better around him if you want us to stick around. Which blows my mind that a college quarterback’s dad would do that to a head coach,” Herbstreit shared.
Herbstreit suggested that tensions within the team contributed to the decision. Financial factors and other issues were also rumored to be involved. On Thursday, Iamaleava finally cleared the air.
“My driving factor to come back home was my family, and I hope every Tennessee fan understands that," Iamaleava said at Big Ten media days. "It was just a lot of drama, but man, I'm excited to be at UCLA.
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“Drama” was the perfect word to describe the situation, with one side saying one thing and the other side saying something else. Tennessee’s new head coach, DeShaun Foster, echoed Iamaleava’s reason for transferring.
“Our sophomore quarterback from Cali. He’s an alive quarterback who chose to come back home and help build something special at UCLA,” Foster said.
Now that Iamaleava has finally spoken out and explained his reasons, it’s time to put this saga to rest. He will be UCLA’s starting quarterback, close to his family, while Tennessee moves forward to find the best option for their next signal-caller. Though it was a sour ending, this kind of situation is part of the modern college football landscape.