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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Thursday evening, Tennessee’s quarterbacks gathered for an annual tradition, with Nico Iamaleava among them.
On their off day ahead of Saturday’s spring game, Tennessee’s quarterbacks sat around the table at quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle’s home. His wife, Cara, made tacos. It was mostly business as usual, despite a report earlier in the day that returning starter Iamaleava was in negotiations for a new contract. He’d all but begun the era of school-affiliated collectives spending big money on recruits when he signed an $8 million deal with Tennessee as a high school senior for his name, image and likeness.
A few hours after the initial report emerged, Iamaleava’s father blasted both the report and reporter, denying negotiations were taking place a week before the 10-day spring transfer portal window opened.
“More games being played off the field than on the field,” his X post read in part.
It was part of a whirlwind 72 hours that ended with the Volunteers publicly parting ways with their returning starting quarterback after a contract dispute that could shift the power dynamics of college sports and impact programs far beyond Tennessee. Three years after signing a game-changing deal, Iamaleava became college football’s first high-profile, public holdout.
Tennessee had gone about its business with a low-key set of spring practices mostly focused on the usual position battles and rebuilding a defense and offensive backfield missing key stars headed to the NFL.
Iamaleava was part of that amid negotiations, and aside from a few minor details, there weren’t many red flags that a divorce was imminent. Tennessee hoped Iamaleava would leap a second-year starter set to make $2.2 million in the final year of a four-year contract that started paying him as a senior in high school.
After Tennessee’s 2024 season ended in Columbus, Ohio, with a lopsided loss to eventual national champion Ohio State in the first round of the 12-team College Football Playoff, Iamaleava’s camp had explored the possibility of a transfer, including engaging in conversations with representatives at Miami, who eventually signed Georgia transfer Carson Beck, paying him more than $3 million.
With Tennessee’s spring season about to wrap, Iamaleava’s camp, including family friend and former Florida personnel staffer Cordell Landers, was adamant nothing was happening.
Iamaleava’s quiet, aloof nature caused some within the program to question if he could be the kind of vocal leader that marks many of the most successful quarterbacks. He was well-liked within the locker room and facility but didn’t immediately have the kind of command of the team that made his teammates sit up and listen when he spoke.
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