Josh Heupel addresses Nico Iamaleava’s exit, previews fall camp QB competition
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Josh Heupel took the podium on Tuesday at SEC Media Days in Atlanta and got the question he probably knew was coming.
The question concerned the chaotic and controversial departure of quarterback Nico Iamaleava during the spring. It was a storyline that hijacked Tennessee spring football, and the Volunteers head coach had to deal with it all. Then on Tuesday, he had to talk about it, because it was the elephant in the middle of the room at SEC Media Days.
Just like Josh Heupel handled the Iamaleava saga as well as could be expected during the spring, he handled Tuesday’s question with a simple and direct answer. Heupel told reporters, in essence, that Iamaleava is now at UCLA and Heupel is all about the quarterbacks who are still in Knoxville.
“It’s never about who isn’t in your building, it’s who is in your building,” explained Heupel. “You have to have the next-guy-up mentality. I’m excited (about) who we have here.”
Heupel addressed those quarterbacks who he still has, and he confirmed on Tuesday that there will be a 3-man competition for the starting job during fall camp. The battle will be waged between transfer Joey Aguilar, Jake Merklinger and George MacIntyre, and Heupel can’t wait to see it unfold this fall. He wanted to stress on Tuesday that he’s confident in the group, putting the Iamaleava saga firmly in the rear-view mirror.
“We will have a competition at the quarterback position. Three guys inside of that room, really proud of what they’ve done,” said Heupel. “I’m really proud of the steps that they have taken throughout the summer.”
With that, Heupel had addressed the sensitive subject that everyone who cares about Tennessee football wanted to know more about.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
