Joe Milton gives his first impressions of Nico Iamaleava

Joe Milton was very impressed the first time he saw Nico Iamaleava walk onto Tennessee’s campus. The quarterback of the future met the quarterback of the present and the two hit it off.

Milton immediately noticed the swagger behind Iamaleava. But he backed it up with football knowledge and humbleness.

Safe to say, the two will work well together in the Tennessee quarterback room.

“I didn’t know much about him, I just knew when I first saw him he was cool,” Milton said. “I think he had on like, two different jackets (because it was cold) … and I was like who’s this young cat? COach said this is Nico, (we’re recruiting him). I said, oh shoot, that’s Nico?

“At first I think I was flat footed, no shoes on, so at first he was taller than me. I said oh man, this is the first quarterback here that’s taller than me. So I put shoes on and I was like alright, we good to go. It was a cool encounter.”

Behind the swagger as Milton talked about, Iamaleava could be a standup quarterback and the right guy for the program moving forward.

“He’s very humble,” Milton said. “He’s not shy to ask questions. I told him to be comfortable about any question you ask. You can ask about my failures, my success, doesn’t matter. Everybody is going to face adversity, you just don’t know when.”

As a member of the Class of 2023, Iamaleava was a five-star recruit out of Long Beach (Calif.) Warren, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 1 overall prospect in the state, the No. 3 quarterback in the class and the No. 6 overall prospect in the class.

Joey Halzle confident in Nico Iamaleava

The talented freshman has impressed his coaches since arriving on campus over the winter.

“Huge confidence in him. That guy is mature beyond his years,” Tennessee offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle said on Tuesday. “He didn’t come in like a true freshman. He came in, one, wanting to learn, not thinking that like I’m a highly rated recruit, I’ve got it figured out. Like he came in understanding I want to learn, I need to know.”

Nico Iamaleava is a very well-known recruit, one of the most high-profile prospects to secure a major NIL deal early on. He’s been all Tennessee ever since.