Josh Heupel discusses 5-star freshman QB Nico Iamaleava’s growth: ‘He doesn’t make the same mistake twice’
By Andrew Olson
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Josh Heupel can already see a difference in Nico Iamaleava. The 5-star freshman joined Tennessee as a spring enrollee and is showing notable progress in his first fall camp on Rocky Top.
Heupel met with the media on Thursday after UT’s first scrimmage. He was asked about Iamaleava and had high praise for the former 5-star recruit.
“Dude, you’ve got to grow. You’ve got to be pushed,” Heupel said of trying to balance pushing the QB and being patient with a freshman. “When we install it, he’s running everything. You’ve heard me say that when they finish spring ball, when they come back at the beginning of training camp, they should be a different player.
“He’s a different player. He’s got great command and understanding of what we’re doing. Understands protections, understands how he’s got to get us out of — could be run, run check. Pass, run checks. Whatever it might be. He hasn’t been perfect, but he’s grown.”
Iamaleava has demonstrated growth because he’s a quick learner.
“One of the things we talk about is not making the same mistake twice. He doesn’t make the same mistake twice,” Heupel continued. “He learns from it. There’s a rep yesterday as he’s going through his reading progression — tight window on the inside, throws the ball (and) while he’s standing in the pocket, you can see him visually like, ‘Hey, man, I should have got out to the next one outside.’ He’s intentional and has great work habits.”
While Joe Milton will lead Tennessee to open the 2023 campaign, plenty of Vols fans hope that Iamaleava will also get opportunities to show what he can do in his first season.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaign of Fred Taylor.
