Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Nico Iamaleava reportedly surprised his coaches and teammates on Friday when he did not attend practice the day before the team’s spring football game. Iamaleava opted not to go to practice amid ongoing contract negotiations with the team. Though Iamaleava was making $2.4 million this year, he was reportedly seeking a deal worth $4 million, per ESPN.
The Volunteers did not budge, and head coach Josh Heupel announced on Saturday that the team is moving on from Iamaleava, who will enter the spring transfer portal.
“It’s the state of college football,” Heupel said, via Pete Thamel. “At the end of the day, no one is ever bigger than the program. That includes me, too.”
The situation between Iamaleava and Tennessee has sparked the latest outcry surrounding the transfer portal and name, image, and likeness (NIL) rules that have completely changed the landscape of college football over the last four years.
Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons, who entered the NFL months before the NCAA allowed players to capitalize on their NIL, called college football “a joke” in the wake of the Iamaleava’s holdout.
“College football a joke now!” Parsons wrote Friday on X. “Yall minds well just make college into a semi pro league! Actually hold players accountable to the contracts they sign!”
College football a joke now! Yall minds well just make college into a semi pro league! Actually hold players accountable to the contracts they sign! https://t.co/9gmrCOlZgi
— Micah Parsons (@MicahhParsons11) April 11, 2025
In another post, Parsons argued that the current state of college football is ‘failing kids.’ “Nah college was never about money!” Parsons wrote. “College is bout building character! I am the man I am today because of the brotherhood and the amazing coaches I’ve had during my time at Penn State! We are failing kids now because life isn’t easy and we are allowing them to quit!”
Along with Parsons, Fox commentator and former Colorado quarterback Joel Klatt weighed in on the situation between Iamaleava and Tennessee, calling out the NCAA for not enforcing any rules.
“NIL and the XFR portal did not ruin College Football,” Klatt wrote. “…The pathetic and inept NCAA not enforcing rules is threatening to ruin College Football…So, we need a governing body to step in and enforce mutually agreed upon rules…it is really that simple.”
The consequences of the NIL era are clearly impacting college football, but a solution doesn’t necessarily appear close. Until the NCAA responds or changes come, it’s hard to see Iamaleava being the last player to skip practice in pursuit of more NIL money.
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