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Paul Finebaum Names Head Coach With Most Secure Job In College Football

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By J.C. Shelton | Last updated Apr 30, 2025 8:19 PM ET

ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum believes there is one college football head coach that has the nation's most "secure" job headed into the 2025 season.

No other transfer portal story in the 2025 cycle has received as much coverage, and backlash, than that of Nico Iamaleava's dramatic exit from the Tennessee Volunteers.

Iamaleava, a former five-star recruit, helped lead Tennessee to its first College Football Playoff appearance in program history as a first-year starter last season.

However, less than four months later, Iamaleava entered the portal after skipping the final spring practice amid supposed NIL negotiations.

Head coach Josh Heupel and the Vols chose to let Iamaleava move on rather than cough up the funds for a lofty NIL raise. And Heupel, according to Finebaum, is the "hero" at the moment.

“In the interim he is a hero,” Finebaum said on "McElroy and Cubelic" after the news broke on the situation. “There’s no question on that conversation."

Finebaum has the pulse of the Tennessee leadership and fan base as a graduate and longtime SEC radio host.

And he thinks that Heupel's decision to part ways with his star quarterback has bought him some grace from Vols' faithful even if the 2025 season is ultimately a disappointment.

"I guess I want to say it doesn’t really matter what the record is, and I’m going to say it really doesn’t matter what the record is this year, because Josh Heupel has earned the goodwill of that fan base and really of a lot of people," Finebaum said.

That goodwill, according to Finebaum, makes Heupel's status in Knoxville the most secure job in the nation, at least in the short term.

"We’re talking about the short term, because this college football season is underway at the moment, and Tennessee doesn’t have a serviceable quarterback, so if they blow a bunch of games, fans will give him a pass," Finebaum said. "Ultimately, you have to win. But in the short term, I don’t know of a college football coach who is more secure than Josh Heupel.”

Tennessee appears to be banking on UCLA transfer Joey Aguilar, who joined the Vols in a quarterback swap with Iamaleava signing with the Bruins.

The Vols will kick off the 2025 season against Syracuse in Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Aug. 30.

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

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