Tennessee star unhappy with Nico Iamaleava after he ‘left his brothers behind’

As soon as it was announced that former Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Nico Iamaleava was entering the transfer portal, countless fans were left disappointed with him. Imagine how some of his teammates must have felt.

Iamaleava decided to leave Knoxville seemingly out of nowhere and he didn’t really give many people much of a heads up. This doesn’t sit well in the locker room, with plenty of playmakers feeling a bit disappointed with the way everything went down.

This includes two-way playmaker Boo Carter, who was getting ready to catch balls from Iamaleava during the 2025 campaign. In an interview with the Chattanooga Press Free Times, the speedster told reporter David Paschall that Nico should have handled things much differently.

Boo Carter was quite disappointed with how Nico Iamaleava made his Tennessee exit

“It was really shocking that he left,” Carter told Paschall when they spoke last week. “He left his brothers behind, but this may be a better opportunity for him at the same time. You’ve got to go with your gut, but I feel like he should have stayed and at least talked with the coaches.”

It’s easy to agree with what Carter had to say. Iamaleava, before he committed to UCLA, skipped out on the Friday practice leading up to the spring game and left everyone guessing over what was going on. Head coach Josh Heupel tried reaching out to him, but had no luck.

Players on the team did the same, and nothing. Carter has every right to feel this way, as he surely hated seeing his quarterback and offensive leader bolting on the program this way. In the end, Iamaleava signed with the Bruins and Tennessee brought in Joey Aguilar.

Carter is a stud defensive back for the Vols and now he’s ready to be an offensive weapon as well. He and Iamaleava started to build some chemistry together during spring camp, but now he’ll look to do the same with Aguilar once he officially joins the squad later this year.