'He doesn't get flustered': Nico Iamaleava showing Tennessee coaches his poise
De’Rail Sims hasn’t been around the Tennessee Football program all that long. He was hired in February as the program’s new running backs coach, replacing Jerry Mack, who left for the same position with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
But Sims has been around redshirt freshman Nico Iamaleava to know what Tennessee has in its new starting quarterback.
“I’m very impressed with him,” Sims said this week. “I mean the way he goes out and commands the whole entire offense. He doesn’t get flustered when things kind of go break down a little bit — he don’t get frustrated.
“So you see the leadership qualities about him, and then you see the arm talent. The different arm angles that he’s able to get the ball out the way, he’s able to present the ball down the field and then when he escapes the pocket as well he’s dangerous from the running standpoint as well.”
“So I think he holistically,” Sims added, “is a really, really good person and a really, really good player as well.”
Nico Iamaleava last season: 358 total yards, 5 total TDs
Iamaleava was ranked as the No. 1 overall prospect in the On3 ratings in 2023, picking Tennessee over Miami, Alabama, Georgia and others while headlining Tennessee’s recruiting class.
He appeared in five games as a freshman last season and made his first career start in the Citrus Bowl against Iowa, combining for 178 total yards and four total touchdowns.
Iamaleava finished the season 28-for-45 passing for 314 yards and two touchdowns. He ran 20 times for 71 yards, with the three rushing touchdowns in the bowl game.
ESPN ranks Nico Iamaleava No. 92 overall entering 2024 season
Iamaleava has drawn unanimous praise during fall camp, both locally and nationally.
Former Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer earlier this week, during an appearance on Josh & Swain on 99.1 WNML-FM in Knoxville, described Iamaleava as “really, really special.”
“This young guy now, Nico is for real, he is,” Fulmer said during the radio appearance. “He’s for real. I’ve been around a lot of good ones. But this guy is really, really special.”
Despite just having one career start under his belt, and only five total appearances as a freshman off the bench last season, Iamaleava was ranked No. 92 by ESPN on Thursday in its list of the top 100 college football players entering the 2024 season.
“A top-25 recruit in 2023,” ESPN’s David Hale wrote, “Iamaleava gave us a taste of what he’s capable of in 2023, completing 28 of 45 passes for 314 yards and two touchdowns, scrambling nine times for 72 yards and rushing for three bowl TDs versus Iowa. He looks like the total package.”
