Lucas Panzica talks about the latest updates in the Tennessee Vols/Nico Iamaleava drama, as Nico is reportedly heading to UCLA, after more disparaging comments about Josh Heupel and the Vols.
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00:00Well, the divorce between Tennessee football and quarterback Nico Iamaliava has been a week-long saga with twists and turns all over the place.
00:08But now we have new information, A, on where Nico could potentially land, and B, on where Tennessee could turn at the quarterback position.
00:19Hey, Lucas Panzeca here from 104.5 The Zone and A to Z Sports.
00:23So, as soon as the transfer portal opened up on Wednesday, we already knew that multiple programs were out of the Nico running.
00:30Schools like Oregon, USC, Notre Dame, even Texas Tech.
00:34It's clear that the way Nico and his camp have handled this entire situation has turned off a lot of teams across the country.
00:42Not to mention, most teams that really needed a quarterback out of the portal found their quarterback in the winter portal when most of these major deals get done.
00:50So, Nico and his camp have found themselves with very little leverage, as you saw schools like Tulane and North Carolina slowly but surely dropping out of the mix.
01:01And that leaves one school that has been reported as a landing spot for Nico, the UCLA Bruins.
01:07Colin Coward reported on Wednesday that Nico to UCLA was a done deal.
01:11Multiple other reports stated the same thing, but Chris Lowe of ESPN came out after the fact,
01:17saying that while Nico and UCLA are in talks, the deal has not been finalized, as, of course, they try to figure out the correct figure for Nico Iomaliava to play under in 2025.
01:28Just as a refresher, Nico was set to make about $2.5 million playing for Tennessee in 2025.
01:35Reportedly, the family wanted in the range of $4 million for the upcoming season.
01:41Now, as they lose their leverage, it certainly seems like Nico will have to play for markedly less than the money he was set to make at Tennessee next season, no matter where he lands.
01:51Again, right now, UCLA seems to be the favorite.
01:54Now, there was an added spin to the Nico move that was certainly new to the picture on Wednesday,
02:00as Colin Coward, during his reporting, stated that Nico's side is saying it wasn't about the money on why he left Tennessee.
02:07It was actually about the Tennessee offense, and that is the primary reason for why they wanted to leave.
02:14Now, there are a couple of reasons why this is a laughable stance from Nico's camp.
02:18Number one, they certainly could have said this right from the jump.
02:22Instead, they waited almost a week to think of this spin to leak out to reporters.
02:26Number two, there's no question, there are fair critiques in terms of how Josh Heupel's offense does not translate to the NFL level.
02:33There has not been a starting quarterback that has played for Josh Heupel in college that has become a starter and a competent one at the NFL level.
02:41And honestly, the same goes for the wide receiver position.
02:44It is something that Tennessee probably needs to happen is have a quarterback or receiver really find their groove and create a good career for themselves in the NFL.
02:54Those things can always trickle down to recruiting.
02:56So that is absolutely a fair critique.
02:59However, Josh Heupel has had tons of success on offense throughout his career and especially at Tennessee.
03:05So if Nico's camp is alleging that the offensive scheme is the reason for why they wanted to leave,
03:11then I'm not sure what response they would have to the fact that Nico Iamaliava is actually the least productive quarterback in that scheme in the Josh Heupel era at Tennessee.
03:20Both Hendon Hooker and Joe Milton had better seasons as starters than what Nico had statistically in 2024.
03:28So the scheme was not the thing that held back Nico last year.
03:32You could argue that the scheme could hold Nico back in terms of his overall draft stock down the road.
03:38But that is not what this family is arguing at the moment.
03:41It's also a fact that Nico's camp wanted more concessions made by Spire Sports in Tennessee to add offensive linemen and wide receivers to the roster.
03:50Which they did.
03:51They added two offensive linemen in the winner portal and one wide receiver, an Alabama transfer, Amari Jefferson.
03:57But reportedly, the family wanted more done and wanted more money.
04:01So it is indeed laughable that the family is trying to say it was never about money and only about the offense
04:06as they continue to flounder currently in the market trying to get as much money as possible.
04:12Which again, does not seem like it will be as much as Nico was making or was going to make for Tennessee in 2025.
04:18Again, another example of how Nico's camp has failed him miserably in this situation.
04:25Reportedly led by his father, Nick, by a close family friend, Cordell Landers.
04:30They are laying out a really good how not to tutorial for players that could face similar situations down the road in college football.
04:38So that's the Nico side of things.
04:40Looking like UCLA is the favorite.
04:42What about the Tennessee side?
04:43UCLA's quarterback room currently consists of Joey Aguilar, an App State transfer that signed to play for UCLA
04:50and presumably be the starter next season for reportedly just over $1 million.
04:55If Nico is to go to UCLA and make probably a larger figure than that,
05:00you would think that UCLA would not want to pay Aguilar that money and that Aguilar would want to hit the portal and find a new landing spot.
05:07This is a guy who's had two years of starting experience and found a lot of success, especially in the 2023 season as App State starting quarterback before transferring to the West Coast.
05:17So he certainly could be an option for Tennessee, but another quarterback has just hit the portal.
05:23It is Steve Angeli out of Notre Dame.
05:25Now, Angeli was the backup to Sam Hartman two years ago and to Riley Leonard in South Bend one year ago.
05:31And we saw a small sample of the New Jersey product when he played in the college football playoff, finishing out the first half, going six for seven and leading a field goal drive before halftime of the Penn State game.
05:42And of course, Riley Leonard came back out and helped Notre Dame win that semifinal and move on to the national championship game.
05:49So Angeli certainly would be an option for Tennessee.
05:51But if there's anything we've learned, it's that the hot shot pie in the sky transfer quarterback, whether that be Avery Johnson or Sam Levitt, is looking less and less likely for Tennessee.
06:03They will get a quarterback out of the portal.
06:05Josh Heupel has said as much, but it's looking more every day like that quarterback is going to be somebody to just come in and compete with Jake Merklinger and George McIntyre for the starting job.
06:16Not a quarterback that will be handed the keys right out of the gate.
06:19Look, in this portal era, especially while the portal window is still open, things can change by the minute.
06:24But that at the moment is where things currently stand for both Nico Iamaliava and the University of Tennessee.