The college football world was rocked with the news that Nico Iamaleava held out of a spring football practice as a tactic in his dispute for more NIL money and ultimately decided to hit the transfer portal when Tennessee didn’t meet his demands.
A lot has been said and discussed regarding this situation and the role that name, image and likeness funds play in college athletics — especially football where everything has been taken to the extreme based on the amount of money involved and the high stakes that surround the sport.
LSU head coach Brian Kelly thinks what happened with Iamaleava is only the precursor of what’s to come across the country when it comes to college football.
“I think there’s changes coming in NIL … And, you know, I think that we’re going to see a lot of this. This was a new world, and I think we’re going to navigate it the best that we can, but I think that there’s going to be other situations that come, and we’re just going to have to do the best we can,” he said per On3.
Kelly and LSU were at the center of their own NIL story on the recruitment trail.
After they secured a commitment from the No. 1 player in the 2025 class — quarterback Bryce Underwood — he seemed like a surefire signee before he flipped his commitment to Michigan and ultimately signed with that program based on the lucrative NIL package that he received.
What coaches like Kelly are concerned about is the constant re-negotiations of deals.
Iamaleava didn’t have a standout season, totaling 2,616 yards passing with 19 touchdowns and five interceptions. But he still felt like he could — and should — go back to the table and demand more money from the program that gave him a scholarship and NIL money in the first place.
The Wild West continues in this era of NIL, and the hope is the House settlement fixes some things.
However, Kelly isn’t too optimistic that things will change for the better, foreshadowing that more situations like Iamaleava’s will pop up in the future.
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