How Bru McCoy helped bring Nico Iamaleava 'a long way' at Tennessee

Nico Iamaleava still remembers watching Bru McCoy on the field in high school. More specifically, he remembers wondering how the five-star athlete was doing everything he was doing on that field. 

“When I was younger, man, I thought Bru was the greatest high school player of all the time,” Iamaleava said this week. “The first guy I had ever seen play receiver and D-end at the same time. 

“Seeing him come off the edge and have five sets and then go score three touchdowns right after was crazy for me to watch.” 

McCoy was a top-10 prospect in the 2019 recruiting class and a product of the Mater Dei High School, the prep football powerhouse in Santa Ana, Calif. He took a winding path to get to Knoxville, initially enrolling at Texas before transferring to Southern Cal, then later transferring to Tennessee before the 2022 season. 

Iamaleava’s memory hasn’t faded, though. 

“Bru always been a top player of mine,” Iamaleava said.

Nico: ‘I can’t wait to go out there and play with him on the field’

Iamaleava became a California prep prodigy in his own right, ranked higher than McCoy ever was. He headlined Tennessee’s 2023 class as not only a five-star quarterback, but as the No. 1 overall player in the country in the On3 ratings out of Long Beach.

“I was older,” McCoy said on Thursday, “so by the time he was kind of doing his thing, I was getting into college. I would hear about him, but we didn’t have a personal relationship.”

Iamaleava committed to Tennessee in March 2022. Two months later, McCoy committed to the Vols out of the transfer portal. After Iamaleava enrolled early and arrived that December, the two developed a friendship with McCoy playing the role of mentor. 

“Just a lot of helping him try to manage pressure and dealing with a lot of expectations,” McCoy said. “He’s done a great job in how he’s carried himself, how he’s been a leader on the team. So I just tried to kind of help show him in an easier path, not making similar mistakes to myself. 

“And just creating good habits and setting like daily things, things that have helped me since I’m just an older guy. So kind of trying to get him to skip some steps and learning lessons.”

Season Opener: No. 15 Tennessee vs. Chattanooga, August 31, 12:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network

Iamaleava waited his turn as a true freshman last season, appearing in just five games while backing up Joe Milton III. He made his first career start in the 35-0 win over Iowa in the Citrus Bowl, combining for 178 total yards and four total touchdowns. 

McCoy caught 52 passes for 667 yards and four touchdowns in 2022, in his first season at Tennessee, and had 17 catches for 217 yards and another score in five games last year, before suffering a devastating leg injury in the win over South Carolina in September. 

Now McCoy is back for a third season with the Vols, just as Iamaleava is taking over as the face of the program as the starting quarterback. 

Finally, it’s time to take their off-field friendship and turn it into an on-field working relationship, at long last getting the chance to pair their five-star abilities.

“He’s brought me a long a long way, man,” Iamaleava said. “Just learning from Bru how to carry yourself on and off the field, I feel like I learned a great amount. 

“Me and Bru have always had a tight relationship, so I can’t wait to go out there and play with him on the field.”