In the early stages of life for the NIL Era, Florida Football found itself at the center of a fiasco it is still having to solve when Jaden Rashada took his ball and went home. That saga served as a warning shot for all of college football of how unregulated the NIL market is.
Ultimately, Rashada never stepped foot on campus, and life moved on, and as messy as the situation was, it pales in comparison to what Tennessee has had happen to them.
Florida Football: Participation Trophy
Word started to leak on Thursday by Pete Nakos of On3 that Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava was unhappy with his NIL deal in Knoxville. The Iamaleava came out in full force trying to call the story fake and called Nakos every name under the sun.
Then word came out yesterday that Iamaleava sat out practice ahead of Tennessee’s spring game.
Then the hammer came down, and it was announced Tennessee was cutting ties with Iamaleava and that Iamaleava is going to enter the transfer portal this spring.
To some extent, credit Tennessee for not caving in to Iamaleava’s demands and not letting a clear locker room cancer get his way. Mind you this is the same Iamaleava who missed multiple open deep shots against Florida and who played his worst game of the season against Ohio State in the playoffs.
In doing so, though, Tennessee has taken the title from Florida for the biggest NIL fiasco. This is a starting QB for a playoff team who left his team high and dry because he thought he was due a pay raise.
And if Rashada taught us anything, QBs who run around chasing money tend to neglect actually developing as a QB.
So thank you, Tennessee, for having this mess on your hands. Gator Nation appreciates you.