'I really wanted him to be there' - Former Vols WR Jalin Hyatt shares his thoughts on Nico Iamaleava's decision to leave Tennessee

Former Tennessee Vols wide receiver Jalin Hyatt was never officially teammates with Nico Iamaleava in Knoxville.

Hyatt declared for the 2023 NFL Draft after the completion of the 2022 regular season (he didn't play in the Orange Bowl against Clemson that season). Iamaleava joined Tennessee for bowl game practices at the end of the 2022 season, but his first year on the Vols' roster was 2023.

Despite never being teammates with Iamaleava, Hyatt was still hoping to see him stick around at Tennessee.

Hyatt recently joined the Saturday Down South podcast and he was asked for his thoughts on Iamaleava's departure from Tennessee.

"It's hard because I really like Nico as a quarterback and really as a player," said Hyatt. "I met him before I left for the draft.

"He had a good year, you know, his first year. And just with NIL and a whole bunch of things that that's going on in college football -- I can't really speak on what he wanted to do, or what was the background with that decision that he made. But I really wanted him to be there. But it's football, so you gotta find the next man up. And I know Coach Heup, he's very good at figuring out his quarterbacks and figuring out [how] he wants to call his offense. It's going to be fun to watch how it pans out."

Hyatt didn't say whether he agreed with Josh Heupel's decision to move on from Iamaleava, but he did point out that Heupel has "a backbone".

"One thing about Heup that I love about him is he has a backbone," said Hyatt. "And the reason why I say that is because it's his way or no way. And if you want to be a part of his plan, if you want to be a part of his journey of getting you better, he will get the best out of you, the best version out of you. And that's one thing that he always demands every day. And if you don't want to be a part of that, if you kind of want to do your own thing....you're not going to be there long."

It's tough to be an elite college football coach without a backbone. Fortunately for Tennessee, it sounds like Heupel is rock-solid in that department.