Tennessee faces high-stakes uncertainty around QB Nico Iamaleava as spring portal window nears

Uncertainty spiked in Knoxville on Thursday as Tennessee’s unsteady relationship with starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava went public. A report from On3 described Iamaleava and Tennessee as going through “contract negotiations” ahead of the April 16 opening of the college football spring transfer portal window. 

If Tennessee loses Iamaleava, it would shake up the national quarterback landscape. It could also unleash a fury not seen on Rocky Top since coach Lane Kiffin bolted for USC in the cover of darkness. Tennessee is determined to keep a player into which it has invested major capital — money, reputation, lawyers — to build up as the pillar of the program. 

Updated contract agreements have been made across college football the last several weeks ahead of April 16’s opening of the spring window to no fanfare, which is why sources at Tennessee say they were caught off guard when they saw their business being aired out on social media Thursday. The act could provide interested schools daylight to gauge Iamaleava’s interest. Sources around Tennessee tell CBS Sports there are multiple parties involved in Iamaleava’s camp, though his dad, Nicholaus, runs the show. 

“The family are happy (with Tennessee),” said Cordell Landers, who described himself as a close friend of the Iamaleavas. Landers is a former assistant director of player personnel at Florida who also works with a number of notable players from California. “There are no (contract negotiations), they’re happy with the contract they have.”

Last week, a rumor rippled through the West Coast that Iamaleava may be interested in testing the portal waters. When reached then about that possibility, one source at Tennessee expressed little concern about the Vols’ standing with Iamaleava. That same person remained nonplussed Thursday, though with an added stroke of hesitancy. Indeed, the sentiment remains that Iamaleava is not expected to enter the transfer portal, though sources close to the situation would not fully rule it out.

Should Iamaleava enter the transfer portal during the spring window, the Long Beach, California, native would be linked to a number of West Coast schools, though any program nationally with a need at quarterback would probably kick the tires. 

Among Tennessee’s frustrations is not just that the negotiations went public. It would have liked, in the ensuing hours, to see a public show of unity from Iamaleava addressing — as in, denying — the report. At time of this article’s publication, it had been over six hours since the On3 tweet. 

The No. 2 prospect and the centerpiece of Tennessee’s 2023 recruiting class, the lanky 6-foot-6 Iamaleava was at the center of one of the most publicized NIL commitments in the early days of the new era. Tennessee — and its affiliated NIL collective — invested significant financial and reputational capital to keep Iamaleava eligible and enrolled. Tennessee chancellor Donde Plowman dug in when the NCAA came calling about Iamaleava’s reported $8 million NIL package, which had been overtly public. 

Tennessee cooked up a three-pronged attack to head off the NCAA, as described by attorney Tom Mars. 

First, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti would file an injunction in federal court to prevent the NCAA from enforcing vague NIL guidelines. If that wasn’t successful, Mars had a filing ready to go in Tennessee state court, with the university expected to follow suit shortly thereafter. 

The NCAA wanted to rule Iamaleava ineligible and force Tennessee to disassociate with [Tennessee-affiliated collective] Spyre Sports, according to Mars, and none of the invested parties had any interest in letting that happen. 

“The Tennessee lawsuit was an ambush that they walked right into,” Mars told CBS Sports. “And they did walk right into it.” 

Skrmetti filed an antitrust lawsuit in the Eastern District of Tennessee federal court on Jan. 31, citing the NCAA’s investigation into Tennessee as an “unlawful restriction” of NIL rules. The lawsuit argued that NCAA rules prohibiting NIL money being utilized in recruiting “violates federal antitrust law, thwarts the free market and harms student-athletes.”

Judge Clifton Corker, presiding over the case, agreed. Shortly after, the NCAA announced it would pause all enforcement-led investigations into NIL and third-party supported NIL investigations. Tennessee and Iamaleava had won. 

The fruit of that victory arrived in 2024, when Iamaleava guided Tennessee to a 10-3 record in his first season as the Volunteers’ starting quarterback. He didn’t post flashy numbers in a run-heavy offense — 2,614 passing yards, 19 touchdowns and five interceptions — but Tennessee’s win over Alabama and appearance in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff spoke volumes. His reputation may precede his standing in college football’s QB hierarchy (CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli does not have him as a top-10 arm this offseason), but few are more gifted. 

Why Nico Iamaleava would be wise to stay with Tennessee, eschew transfer portal amid reported contract talks

Will Backus

Tennessee’s annual Orange and White Game is Saturday at Neyland Stadium.