Nico Iamaleava has quickly earned 'a lot of trust' from his Tennessee teammates
Josh Heupel was talking about Joe Milton III wafter Tennessee football’s Monday morning practice, but the point applied to freshman Nico Iamaleava and the other quarterbacks on roster, too.
“You put quarterbacks in tough situations during practice,” Heupel said during his press conference. “You put them in the hardest spots that they can be in.”
“I think that’s one of the things that I’ve done as a head coach,” he added later, “is try to create more situational awareness and actually getting more reps in those situations. That’s been a part of helping those guys, but all 125 (players) in the locker room.”
Iamaleava is one of the 125 who has covered the most ground over the last eight months.
He was a different player in the spring than he was in bowl practices in December, after enrolling at Tennessee as the No. 1 overall player in the On3 ratings in the 2023 recruiting class.
“As a young man coming into a program,” Heupel said, “(he’s) understanding the standards that we have here, but (also) the demands of playing quarterback at this level.”
In short, he’s continued to take the next step along the way. That step during fall camp has been understanding the big picture.
“Being able to start to grasp and understand what’s going on from up front (with) protections,” Heupel said, “defensive structure, being able to see and recognize, anticipate and see both. (After the) snap, rotations from the back end.
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“At the end of the day, controlling his job and having his eyes in the right spot.
The same could be said, and was said by Heupel Monday, regarding Milton, Tennessee’s starter ahead of Iamaleava, and his situational development since the end of last season.
“He has continued to grow his understanding of football 101,” Heupel said, “understanding when can I hang in the pocket, when’s it time to get rid of football and make sure that in a certain situation, whether we’re backed up or in field goal (range), where you’ve got three (points), trying to get seven, understanding the timing and how to play smart football in those situations.
“He’s continued to grow and (I) love what he’s done. The other quarterbacks in the room have continued to grow. We put them into a lot of situations.”
Should the situation arise early in the season forcing Iamaleava into playing time, Heupel said Monday that the freshman has earned the trust of the Tennessee coaching staff. He’s earned the trust of his teammates too.
“He’s a dramatically different player than he was during spring ball,” Heupel said. “Love the steps that he took in the spring, too. His football team has got a lot of trust in him.”
