Tennessee quickly strips Nico Iamaleava from media room, other Neyland Stadium locations

Nico Iamaleava is gone from Tennessee, and the Vols are wasting no time removing any memory of him from the building. A photo emerged Saturday of the media room inside Neyland Stadium where a wall of pictures was displayed.

However, there was one empty frame. According to Adam Sparks, who covers the team for the Knoxville News Sentinel and posted the photo, that is the spot where Iamaleava’s picture used to be. That wasn’t the only photo removed from the stadium either as Sparks also wrote in the post that Neyland had been “wiped clean” of Iamaleava throughout.

Guess whose photo used to be here in Tennessee media room.

Neyland Stadium has been wiped clean.

It’s sorta remarkable how quickly UT did that throughout stadium, in team store, on videos, etc. pic.twitter.com/OH8zjVpCHP

— Adam Sparks (@AdamSparks) April 12, 2025

Reports emerged Saturday morning that Tennessee coach Josh Heupel had informed Vols players that the team was moving on from Iamaleava, who was the starting quarterback in 2024. Days earlier, On3 insider Pete Nakos reported Iamaleava and Tennessee were in active negotiations on a new NIL deal.

Iamaleava missed team meetings and a practice on Friday, which stalled the negotiations and ultimately led to the decision from Heupel. The news broke Saturday just hours before the team’s annual Orange vs. White spring game.

Iamaleava is now expected to enter the transfer portal when the spring window opens on April 16. There he can potentially earn a larger NIL contract than the figure of between $2.2 and $2.5 million that his deal at Tennessee was worth according to Nakos.

In the time since Iamaleava agreed to the deal, transfers like Miami’s Carson Beck and Duke’s Darian Mensah have reportedly both signed contracts this offseason worth more than $3 million annually. Michigan even gave five-star freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood over $3 million per year, as well. 

Iamaleava is a former five-star prospect who ranked as the No. 6 overall player and No. 3 quarterback in the 2023 class according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He spent his true freshman season as a backup before making his first start in the Citrus Bowl and leading the Vols to a victory against Iowa.

The graduation of Joe Milton then allowed Iamaleava to take over the starting job this past year. He led Tennessee to a 10-3 record and an appearance in the College Football Playoff, where they fell in the first round against eventual champion Ohio State.

The Buckeyes defense bottled Iamaleava up in that one as he completed less than 50 percent of his passes for 104 yards and no touchdowns. On the season as a whole, he had 2,616 yards passing and 19 touchdowns to five interceptions.

With Nico Iamaleava now moving on, Tennessee will need to decide on a new starting quarterback for 2025. Once they decide that, perhaps that player can fill in those empty picture frames throughout Neyland Stadium.