Kirk Herbstreit defends Nico Iamaleava amid Tennessee controversy: 'I was blown away'

Kirk Herbstreit has seen all the vitriol being directed at Nico Iamaleava after his shocking divorce from Tennessee last weekend. But as far as the ESPN College GameDay analyst is concerned, the now-former Volunteers quarterback doesn’t deserve any of the venom currently being thrown his way.

“Let me just say this about Nico. I did about 4-5 games with Tennessee, and the first time I did a Tennessee game I was very interested to see what he was going to be like in our production meeting. I saw the pajamas, I heard about the $8 million dollars, no idea what’s true and what’s not” Herbstreit said Wednesday on The Pat McAfee Show. “And he hopped on our first call we did with him, … and I thought: ‘Alright, here we go,’ And this dude was one of the typical Polynesian, laid-back, calm, quiet, humble, (one of the) nicest guys I’ve ever spoken to. I was blown away. So, I’m not piling on Nico at all.”

"Nico Iamaleava is one of the nicest guys that I've ever spoken to..

From my time being around him he's a guy that you want in your huddle..

He was a true freshman last year who ran that Josh Heupel scheme" ~ @KirkHerbstreit #PMSlive pic.twitter.com/0mWgThuf0d

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) April 16, 2025

Iamaleava, a former 2023 five-star signee out of Long Beach, Calif., officially entered the NCAA Transfer Portal on Wednesday, five days after NIL negotiations broke down between his representatives and Tennessee officials late last week. That failed negotiation led Iamaleava to skip out on the Volunteers’ final Spring practice Friday, and the two sides opted to part ways late Friday, one day before Tennessee’s Orange-White Spring game on Saturday.

“I don’t know what’s going on, I hear about his dad, I hear about his team. I can just tell you the type of guy (I’ve met) … that’s why I’m sure it was tough for Josh Heupel to let him go,” Herbstreit continued. “Nico’s a great teammate. Nico’s a great guy. Nico is a guy – from my time being around him – that you want in your huddle.

“I talked to Jack Sawyer after the Ohio State-Tennessee (College Football Playoff) game before Oregon and we were reminiscing about the week before, and he said, ‘I tell you what, man, we knew we had them early, but I was blown away by their quarterback. We cracked a couple of his helmets and he just kept coming back. He kept competing.’ He goes: ‘That kid’s the real deal.’ So I’m impressed with Nico as a person, I’m impressed with Nico as a player.”

Kirk Herbstreit blasts NCAA amid Nico Iamaleava controversy: ‘They have no power over the sport’

In the wake of the Nico Iamaleava saga at Tennessee, insiders across the sport are speaking out. And ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit seemed a little fed up at the whole thing on Wednesday afternoon.

“One thing I continue to think about is if the NFL has an issue, Roger Goodell, the owners, the NFLPA, there’s a CBA … they work things out,” Herbstreit said Wednesday on The Pat McAfee Show. “They create the CBA and there’s grounds of understanding what the rules and regulations are. Who is that in college football? You tell me.

“Is it the conference commissioners? Is it the presidents? Everybody wants to blame the NCAA. They have zero power. They have no power over the sport. Who’s running the sport? Who are we supposed to file these complaints to? Who’s supposed to make change? I have no idea who that is.”

What was shocking about the Nico Iamaleava situation was how unprecedented it was. He was the starting quarterback on a College Football Playoff team.

If it can happen to Tennessee in that fashion, it might just happen to anyone.

“I think most people I’ve talked to have kind of come to grips with NIL, with understanding that players are being paid and that’s kind of part of the world,” Herbstreit said. “I think the gripe or the concern is not having any rules or regulations.

“The fact that people are coming out saying that players are talking about, in the first portal, threatening to leave if they don’t get what they want and maybe even skipping bowl games or the playoff. And now having a player like this try to hold his team hostage even though he’s paid pretty handsomely and he decides — not he, but his team decides, ‘Hey, you’ve got to give us what we need.’”