Bru McCoy raves about Nico Iamaleava: 'This kid's special'

As Tennessee gets deeper into its season all eyes will be on quarterback Nico Iamaleava and his continued progression. Because where he’s at already as a first-year starter is pretty outstanding.

If he keeps getting better, the Volunteers could be come downright dangerous.

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“I mean he takes command of the field really well,” said Tennessee receiver Bru McCoy on the Paul Finebaum Show on Wednesday. “He’s a great leader. I mean he’s an awesome guy off the field. He’s just really easy to work with and learn from. It’s been just awesome to see him go out and do what all of us here at Tennessee have seen him do.”

McCoy, a college football veteran, got to work with Nico Iamaleava last year when the latter was just a true freshman. Despite coming in as a highly touted five-star prospect, Iamaleava just went to work.

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It was that kind of work ethic that led teammates to gravitate toward him. It’s what allowed him to be so successful in last year’s bowl game and this year’s season opener, his first real action for the orange and white.

“Now he’s putting kind of the world on notice,” McCoy said. “This kid’s special and I think there’s a lot of great things to come from him. As long as we just keep our nose to the grindstone, keep what’s important important, we’ve got a lot of success in front of us.”

Nico Iamaleava catches Urban Meyer’s eye

It’s one thing for a casual fan to look at a quarterback like Nico Iamaleava and see the big numbers. It’s another for a former coach like Urban Meyer to flip on the tape and be instantly enraptured.

But such was the case this weekend.

“I went back and watched Tennessee. They have a quarterback that I called Matt Leinart and Brady Quinn this morning after watching this thing,” Meyer said on The Triple Option podcast. “His name’s Nico Iamaleava. It’s Tennessee-Chattanooga, so they were overmatched. They were so much better. But this guy, as far as a body type to stand there athletically and throw the ball, the ball came out like a missile.

“He was a five-star in high school. I asked, ‘Is he a top 10 pick in the NFL Draft?’ to Brady and Matt and they said obviously, he’s got another year left. This guy is unbelievable. I know they had Joe Milton last year, but this guy is a monster. Because of him, I’m putting them to cover the spread (against NC State) and I think they’ll be a playoff team.”

In the season opener, Iamaleava went 22-of-28 passing for 314 yards — all of it coming in the first half, which set a school record for passing yardage in the half — with three touchdowns. He didn’t throw an interception and was sacked just once.

A heck of an outing.

Nico Iamaleavea and Tennessee will look to duplicate the trick when they take on NC State on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.