Josh Heupel addresses Nico Iamaleava's departure from Tennessee football program

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel addressed Nico Iamaleava and the QB’s departure from the program. Heupel informed the team that it was moving on from Iamaleava Saturday morning prior to the spring game.

The Vols QB was in negotiations about his NIL deal, according to On3’s Pete Nakos. Iamaleava missing practice and meetings on Friday turned a lot of heads in the college football world.

Following the spring game, Heupel discussed the latest regarding his quarterback. Safe to say, Iamaleava stole all the headlines during college football spring practice.

“Man, listen, it’s the state of college football,” Heupel told Brent Hubbs on The Vol Network radio broadcast. “At the end of the day, no one is ever bigger than the program. That includes me, too. We’ve got an opportunity. We’ve got a bunch of guys that will give their all for Tennessee. We move forward. Got a great group. Let’s go compete.”

Of course this caused a firestorm of reactions throughout Friday, considering the magnitude, ranging from positive to negative reactions. With QB NIL market reset since Iamaleava signed on with Tennessee out of high school, he and his camp looked for a new deal.

As Iamaleava and his crew began negotiations about a new deal, it wasn’t a new thing at Tennessee. ESPN’s Chris Low has since tweeted out several notes about that news, including the fact that this supposedly isn’t the first time that those representing the quarterback have had conversations with other schools.

“One thing to add here is that Josh Heupel and Iamaleava have a very healthy relationship,” Low tweeted on Friday. “But this is not the first time Iamaleava’s reps have talked to other schools over the last few months.”

Iamaleava originally sought a huge payday back in December, per Low. His representatives looked to increase the quarterback’s deal to the “$4 million range” in NIL just before the end of the window transfer portal window, per his report. Still, those with the Volunteers “weren’t going to blink” at those demands.

According to VolQuest’s Austin Price, Iamaleava was absent from Friday’s spring practice amid ongoing negotiations with Tennessee to amend the original deal in name, image, and likeness. It would be a massive jump in price.

As a sophomore last season, Nico Iamaleava threw for 2,616 yards and 19 touchdowns in his first year as Tennessee’s starting quarterback. He previously sat behind Joe Milton, and NIL was a central part of the recruiting process. As The Athletic reported at the time, Iamaleava received a lucrative NIL deal when he arrived on Rocky Top.

That agreement was a seminal moment in the NIL era, and something the NCAA was getting ready to investigate before Tennessee fought back. That led to a preliminary injunction and, ultimately, the NCAA allowing NIL discussions to take place during the recruiting process.