Tennessee football ripped for Nico Iamaleava NIL disaster by former rival head coach

Former Florida and Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer has weighed in on Nico Iamaleava's impending departure from the Tennessee football program, and the legendary coach isn't terribly pleased with how the Volunteers have handled the situation.

“Here’s the reality: Tennessee is screwed,” Meyer said on the Triple Option Podcast. “They got a problem. You lose a potential high draft pick. You have the backup quarterback left last year and now you have a redshirt freshman that threw nine passes as a freshman. You have zero experience, and the portal opens as we speak. They are going to have to go get one.”

The Volunteers found themselves on the receiving end of a holdout from last season's starting quarterback, when Iamaleava demanded an increase in his $2.4 million NIL deal to something approaching Carson Beck's $4 million contract with Miami. Head coach Josh Heupel and the Vols held their ground, and Iamaleava entered the transfer portal.

Meyer went on to criticize the decision to let the quarterback leave.

“And here’s the thing, there’s a couple key elements here,” Meyer said. “Everybody’s saying, ‘Nice job Tennessee, making a stand.’ I’ve got a little comment on that. Tennessee plays Florida usually every year in October. Can you imagine that game’s going the other way and coach Heupel grabs the microphone and stands on the 50-yard line in Neyland Stadium and says, ‘It’s OK, I made a stand way back when.'”

Meyer's point is that while fans may praise the move now, that tune could change very quickly if Tennessee comes out and struggles next season. And with an opening game against Syracuse, they'll have very little margin for error.

While Meyer's opinion is certainly a valid one, it misses a couple key points. First, the Volunteers have one of the deepest quarterback rooms in the country right now. Backup Jake Merklinger was a four-star recruit coming out of high school and the 11th best quarterback in his class, and the Volunteers have a second four-star passer in the locker room in true freshman George McIntyre.

Not to mention, the Vols now have Iamaleava's NIL money to play with, and could have more if the boosters could be convinced to throw some more money at the problem. If there's a team in college football capable of weathering Nico's departure, it's the Vols.

But, given Meyer's history at Florida against Tennessee, should we really be surprised that he's playing the contrarian.

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