Josh Heupel explains Nico Iamaleava's absence at SEC Media Day

Nico Iamaleava might be stepping into a key role as the Tennessee starting quarterback during his second season in 2024, but that doesn’t mean he’s a de facto face of the team. At least as far as head coach Josh Heupel is concerned, that is.

When it came time to pick three of his players to take to SEC Media Days this week in Dallas, Heupel opted not to bring along the heralded quarterback, despite obvious interest from fans and media to hear from him. Instead, Heupel picked a trio of long-tenured Volunteers: Cooper Mays, Keenan Pili and Omari Thomas.

As Heupel explained it, it has less to do with leaving Iamaleava in Knoxville than it has to do with giving the players he did bring a chance to be representatives of the Volunteers.

“It’s not about why I didn’t bring Nico,” Heupel said. “It’s about why the three guys that I talked about earlier are here. These are guys that are in six-year-plus that have unique stories and are great ambassadors, but great leaders inside of our program; and felt like, you know, in our track record, my track record of who we brought here, we’ve brought veteran guys, and so it’s not about Nico. It’s about these three guys, why we made that choice.”

And with training camp showing up and Iamaleava now the full-time quarterback, it won’t be long until the Tennessee quarterback is speaking to reporters on a regular basis, anyways.

Heupel discussed how his quarterback has grown this offseason

Iamaleava was a highly touted high school prospect with the build of a future quarterback in the NFL. A five-star prospect ranked the No. 6 overall player and the No. 3 quarterback of the 2023 class according to the On3 Industry Ranking standing at 6-foot-6 and weighing 215 pounds. And Tuesday at SEC Media Days, Heupel gave a detailed breakdown on what he’s seen from his young signal caller ahead of the 2024 season.

“[Iamaleava] was highly recruited because of his athletic traits,” Heupel said. “He’s got the ability to throw the football sideline to sideline, vertically down the football field, extremely accurate. Loose, quick triggered arm. He’s got the ability to extend and make plays with his feet as a runner, that’s evading and making a play down the field.”

In the Citrus Bowl Iamaleava had the first career start as a college player and put on a show in a dominant 35-0 win over Iowa. Completing 12 of his 19 pass attempts for 151 yards and a touchdown along with three rushing scores on the ground.

But according to Heupel, his leadership and intangibles may be even more impressive than his skills on the field.

“The thing that I loved about Nico is when he came into the building, he wanted to earn the respect of his teammates and you do that through your actions, not your words. Everybody understands how hard he works to become the best that he can at his craft. He takes great ownership in his skill set and developing it, understanding of our offense,” Heupel said.