Nico Iamaleava, Josh Heupel open up on not redshirting

Coming into the 2023 season, Tennessee freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava was expected to backup Joe Milton and prepare to be the starter in the future. That’s exactly what happened, too, except many people also expected him to take a redshirt.

The Citrus Bowl was Iamaleava’s fifth game of the season and first start. After the game, he addressed the situation, explaining he never was thinking about his redshirt.

“I never really had a redshirt in my mind,” Nico Iamaleava said. “I really just wanted to learn this whole year behind Joe. Getting a year of experience just learning under my belt. But, yeah, redshirting never really crossed my mind.”

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel chimed in at that point to explain that the team tries not to go into a season thinking about a redshirt, especially given Iamaleava’s status as the backup.

“End of the day, for the quarterbacks and the guys at every position, you don’t have a like listen you are strictly gonna redshirt and won’t play in anything other than the four games until you’re on the very end of the season because of the way the game unfolds and injuries that take place,” Heupel said. “And Nico’s been one play away the entire season from having to carry the load the rest of the way home. You just continue to fight and grow as a competitor.”

Tennessee won the Citrus Bowl 35-0. During the game, Iamaleava threw for 151 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 27 yards and another three touchdowns. It was an excellent performance that Heupel praised and attributed to his preparation.

“I’m really pleased and proud of the way that he has handled his preparation every single week,” Heupel said. “I think he’s gotten better throughout the course of the season in understanding the urgency and that preparation. That’s a huge part of the reason he went out and played the way he did today.”

Nico Iamaleava shares how Joe Milton helped prepare him for first start

Even though Joe Milton opted out of the bowl game, as Nico Iamaleava explained, he did a great job helping him to prepare for his first start.

“Joe helping me has been great, man,” Iamaleava said. “He’s been with me this whole season, the whole way in this bowl game, and yeah, man. I really can’t ask for much more from Joe. He answers every question and I really appreciate him.”