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Paul Finebaum Makes His Thoughts On The Tennessee-Nico Iamaleava Drama Extremely Clear

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By J.C. Shelton | Last updated Apr 12, 2025 11:28 AM ET

Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava reportedly won't return for the Volunteers for the 2025 college football season, and Paul Finebaum is siding with his alma mater.

He previously signed with Tennessee as a five-star recruit out of the class of 2023. Iamaleava was the second-highest rated recruit in program history, and was believed to be the type of player that could end the Vols' postseason woes.

And Iamaleava did just that as a first-year starter last season, leading Tennessee to its first College Football Playoff appearance in program history. The Long Beach, California native was expected to return as a redshirt sophomore.

However, after participating in nearly all of spring practice, the Vols have reportedly parted ways with their starting quarterback, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel on Saturday.

The split comes after Iamaleava was absent from a practice on Friday as he sought a more lucrative NIL deal. He was set to make $2.4 million this year and was looking to increase his earnings to $4 million, per ESPN.

The Vols backed Iamaleava last year when the NCAA was attempting to rule him ineligible based on the NIL side of his recruiting.

But Tennessee has since decided to move on from Iamaleava, who will not participate in the Vols' spring game on Saturday.

According to Finebaum, a Tennessee graduate, the decision by head coach Josh Heupel and Co. is for the best.

“I think the fans that I talked to yesterday afternoon, Shae, agree with this,” Finebaum said on "SportsCenter." “It is the right call, and it’s the right call because they’ve already been held hostage to a degree by Nico and his people. They went to bat for him about a year ago. They fought because the NCAA wanted to rule him ineligible because of the recruiting, and they stood by and they kept his eligibility. They gave him a chance, and by the way, he helped to reward them by helping Tennessee get to the playoffs last year. But the bigger story here is beyond Nico. This is an inflection point in the history of college football.”

Iamaleava (6-foot-6, 215 pounds) threw for 2,616 yards with 19 touchdowns to five interceptions in 2024. His quarterback rating (70.5) tied for 36th nationally.

“What’s interesting is, he’s not that great," Finebaum said. "I talked to very various sources around the SEC yesterday, and I said, ‘Tell me where he ranks out of the 16 quarterbacks in the SEC,’ they said, somewhere between ‘six and eight.’ Tennessee saw the same thing and that’s why he was no longer on the Tennessee roster this morning.”

Heupel and the Vols will likely turn to the transfer portal to help fill the void left by Iamaleava, who is expected to be a coveted player in the spring transfer window (April 16-25).

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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