Paul Finebaum: Tennessee did college football a favor by saying no to Nico Iamaleava

The highly-publicized divorce between Tennessee and former starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava last weekend sent shockwaves through the college football world. That breakup prompted pundits from all over to sound off on the implications of a student-athlete playing hardball to earn a bigger NIL payday.

But few have been as vocal and opinionated as ESPN and SEC Network host Paul Finebaum, who praised Vols head coach Josh Heupel and the Volunteers administration for doing the college football world “a tremendous favor” by opting to cut bait rather than playing ball with Iamaleava’s NIL renegotiation.

“Had Tennessee acquiesced and bent the knee, I think it would have been an even bigger story. I think you’d have seen players on every campus going: ‘OK, well he got away with it, why can’t I?’ And I think that would’ve been a real issue. Tennessee did the rest of college football a tremendous favor by saying ‘No’ and maybe taking the short-term pain,” Finebaum said Monday on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning on WJOX in Birmingham. “I think Friday, when this story was starting to break, I think a lot of people assumed Tennessee would give in, because that’s just the way it is. But I think ultimately a lot of things went into Tennessee’s decision, namely they stood up for this guy. They went to bat for him when it looked like he was going to be declared ineligible by the NCAA, and they got nothing back from a thank-you standpoint.”

Paul Finebaum on teams dealing with NIL issues: ‘You have to treat this like a business’

Iamaleava, a former 2023 five-star signee out of Long Beach, Calif., is expected to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal when the Spring portal window opens Wednedsay, 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 Saturday.

Now, days before U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken could rule on the pending House v. NCAA settlment, forever altering the college sports landscape in the process, Finebaum believes Tennessee’s decision to part ways with Iamaleava was a example of a university embracing a true business-like approach to roster management and NIL.

“I think it resets college football at a moment when it’s going to be reset anyway, and I hope programs around the country will learn from this. Because just to pay money because someone is unhappy is the wrong thing to do,” Finebaum continued. “You have to treat this like a business. And where we work, where a lot of people driving to work right now work, they just don’t throw away money if they’re not getting anything in return. I think Tennessee made a judgement, we’re paying a lot of money (already) … and we’re not willing to pay any more.”