College Town Touch down

Amateurism is long gone in FBS football, and the latest example is (now former) Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava’s holdout and decision to abstain from practice this week resulting in his subsequent departure from the team. 

To keep it honest, Tennessee made the right choice. A player choosing to hold himself out of practice (I’m sure at the guidance of some sleazy agent) to demand more money right before the spring game is a scumball move. People who like to look at overall season statistics will tell you he had an impressive redshirt freshman season most likely didn’t watch the games. Iamaleava threw zero touchdowns against Florida, Arkansas, Ohio State, and Georgia and was held under 200 yards passing in nine different games. 

We’re all for players getting their worth, but Iamaleava simply is not worth more than what he had already been getting. In 2023 Iamaleava was ranked the number 2 player in the nation as a recruit by 247sports, ranked only behind Arch Manning. He received a hefty deal in the first place upon his arrival in Knoxville. 

This season’s performance would not be enough to increase his worth by any metric and it seems Tennessee agreed. 

Iamaleava is already the highest rated player in the spring portal rankings, and some team will surely overpay for him and pray he’s worth all the cash they’ll stuff in his jockstrap. The spring portal opens on April 16th and we’re certain to witness mayhem, especially after this weekend of spring games. Plenty of unhappy players will be offered too much money to refuse and end up somewhere they at least get to get paid. As an 18-22 year old, (in some cases these days 26 year old) you would do the same so don’t even start bitching about how it used to be different. 

Iamaleava cannot transfer to another SEC school as is the rule for the spring portal. Someone with fat pockets will either match or improve his asking price. Where will he end up?