Josh Heupel evaluates what he saw from Nico Iamaleava this spring

Nico Iamaleava arrived at Tennessee with monstrous expectations after an incredible high school career.

The No. 1 overall player in the class of 2023, according to the On3 rankings, has lived up to those expectations thus far.

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel recently spoke with 99.1 The Sports Animal about what he saw from Iamaleava this spring. Needless to say, he was impressed.

“Nico’s come in and just tried to prove it and work for it every single day,” Heupel said. “He handles himself in a very mature way. It’s really hard to be 18 years old and come onto campus with the type of fanfare that he had. He’s handled it in a really good way. His teammates absolutely love him.”

Iamaleava not only went through spring practice with the Vols, but he was also in Knoxville during bowl prep and worked out with the team then.

He impressed Tennessee players and coaches as the Vols prepared to face Clemson in the Orange Bowl.

Tennessee ended up beating the Tigers 31-14. Rules prevented Iamaleava from playing in the game, but he did get plenty of reps during practice.

“He was on the scout team during bowl prep. Everybody on the defensive side of the ball – coaches and players – got a chance to see what he looked like,” Huepel said. “He was extremely impressive during that.”

Iamaleava continued to make plays in the spring.

The focus for him this spring was on learning the offense and mastering Heupel’s system, as well as adjusting to the speed of college football.

“He’s continued to grow throughout the course of spring ball in his understanding of what we’re doing. Day 1, the game was moving really fast for him. It’s continued to slow down every single day,” Heupel said. “He’s been resilient. After a bad play or maybe not his best practice, he’s responding the right way and coming back the next play or the next day.”

Iamaleava is far from a finished product, but he’s off to a great start in his college career throwing for 1,726 yards and 25 touchdowns as a senior in high school.

One area Heupel wants to see him continue to improve throughout his college career is as a leader.

“Someone that’s going to have to grow in the leadership role as we go through this summer and through the fall, for sure, as he becomes more entrenched and understanding of what we’re doing,” Heupel said.