Nico Iamaleava’s Father Threw His Son Under Bus For Skipping Spring Practice Against His Wishes

Nico Iamaleava will play the remainder of his college football career at UCLA on an NIL deal worth less than what he got paid at/by Tennessee. It is one of the most cautionary tales in sports history.

However, Iamaleava’s father is just as much to blame as the quarterback himself, even if the former is now choosing to throw the latter under the bus.

According to multiple sources, Iamaleava’s father serves as the primary agent for the former five-star college football recruit. He reached out to the Volunteers, through their NIL collective, on Dec. 28 with a request of approximately $4 million— up more than $1 million from his preexisting financial agreement. Meanwhile, the patriarch was actively shopping his son on the open market as if the starting quarterback was in the transfer portal. The Iamaleava camp denies the $4 million number.

Nico Iamaleava was not returning phone calls from his coaches while his dad sniffed around for more money. Although he did consider an entry into the transfer portal, according to ESPN, the radio silence stemmed from a “mental break” after Tennessee got smacked by Ohio State in the Playoff.

Fast forward to April 10. New of Iamaleava’s monetary demands were made public and sparked a massive firestorm. Vols head coach Josh Huepel ultimately told him to kick rocks after he skipped out on the final spring practice before the spring game. The rest is history.

Iamaleava will get paid around $2 million at UCLA. It is less than what he made at Tennessee. His little brother followed him into the portal and onto to Westwood.

Nico Iamaleava’s dad runs the show.

Nic Iamaleava is at the forefront of this ugly fallout as the primary advisor. His son reportedly skipped two offseason workouts back in February after his attorney advised him to skip workouts until they worked things out with the NIL collective in Knoxville. Spyre Sports Group claims it did not miss any payments. Iamaleava returned to practice the following week on the same NIL agreement as before.

And then he skipped practice before the spring game.

Iamaleava told at least one teammate after the Vols’ Wednesday practice that he planned to enter the transfer portal on the Sunday after the spring game.

“I’m getting in the portal, if you need to handle your business,” Iamaleava said as he was walking off the practice field, according to a Tennessee player who heard him say it.

One of the teammates went to Heupel to alert him. Heupel met with Iamaleava to make sure everything was OK and didn’t mention anything about the information coming from teammates, and Iamaleava assured his coach that everything was good and that it was “all a bunch of rumors.”

The rollercoaster saga ultimately reached its boiling point on Thursday night. Iamaleava was distraught. He did not know who to trust. He did not know who was responsible for the ongoing reports.

According to ESPN, Nico Iamaleava was ready to hit the transfer portal but his dad actually told him to sleep on the decision. This is where it gets awkward in terms of optics.

Yikes. I do not know who sourced that information, but it is not a good look for the family. As that sentence reads, the elder Iamaleava threw his son right under the bus. He played a significant role throughout the entire process, dating back to the initial NIL negotiations in high school and then Dec. 28. Just not the part where the entire relationship unraveled because Nico skipped practice.

Nic encouraged his son to meet with Huepel. Nico chose not to do so. His son is the bad guy, not him!