Kirk Herbstreit recalls rumors involving Nico Iamaleava before CFP game: ‘Disgusting to me if true’
By Andrew Olson
Published:
One of the wildest stories of the college football offseason was Nico Iamaleava’s spring departure from Tennessee. There were reports of Iamaleava’s transfer being the product of an NIL dispute. There were also claims that the decision was not financially motivated.
Much of the college football world, particularly outside the Tennessee fanbase, was caught off guard when it was initially reported that Iamaleava was considering entering the NCAA transfer portal during the spring window. During the Iamaleava drama, Josh Pate of CBS Sports revealed that Iamaleava nearly sat out the College Football Playoff game against Ohio State to renegotiate his NIL deal.
Kirk Herbstreit also heard about behind-the-scenes drama with Iamaleava before the game at Ohio State. During an appearance on the Try That in a Small Town podcast, Herbstreit recalled what he heard was going on in Knoxville before the CFP game.
“I’ve heard from close sources it was more about Nico’s dad going to Josh (Heupel) back in December before they played Ohio State. Like, ‘Hey listen, you got to get better at offensive line and better receiver. You got to get better around him if you want us to stick around,’ Herbstreit recalled.
“Which blows my mind that a college quarterback’s dad would do that to a head coach. And I think at the end of the day, when they got into spring ball, it was still more of you haven’t brought people in to make him and this offense better. Again, I don’t know if that’s true, but that’s what I was hearing.
“So I don’t think it was necessarily about the money. I think it was more about is Nico going to be able to play well enough to eventually be a first pick in a draft with the players that they had around him. That’s disgusting to me if that’s true.”
Iamaleava is now at UCLA and Tennessee has Joey Aguilar. But if College Football 26 is any indication, we’re sure to hear Iamaleava’s Tennessee exit brought up throughout the season.
The Nico Saga continues…
— Tri-Star Network (@TriStar_Network) July 21, 2025
Nico’s dad allegedly told Heupel “You got to get better around him if you want us to stick around.”
Kirk Herbstreit gave his opinion saying, “That’s disgusting to me”
Via “Try That in a Small Town Podcast” pic.twitter.com/ew42DzeLt0
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
