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When star quarterback Nico Iamaleava made his stunning move to UCLA after an ugly breakup with the Tennessee Volunteers, his advisors, who include his father, swore that they knew what they were doing.
“His representation hasn’t steered him wrong,” a family friend told Front Office Sports of the move. “At the end of the day, what did we do wrong to steer him and put him in a bad situation? We didn’t.”
The Vols were coming off a College Football Playoff appearance. Meanwhile, the Bruins just wrapped up a brutal 5-7 season under first-year head coach DeShaun Foster.
Fast forward to the current season and the Vols, despite a heartbreaking loss at the hands of rival Georgia, are still at the center of the College Football Playoff discussion. On the other hand, UCLA just fired Foster after an ugly 35-10 loss at the hands of New Mexico that dropped the Bruins to 0-3 on the season.
That leaves Iamaleava with an out. He can now enter the transfer portal again over the next 30 days and perhaps find a new home that is more conducive than the one he’s in.
Whether he stays or goes, it’s clear the decision to leave Tennessee for UCLA hasn’t gone according to plan. But does he or his camp have any regrets? It doesn’t seem that way. Or, at least, they’re not voicing them.
Amanda Christovich of Front Office Sports reports that Iamaleava’s camp declined to comment when she reached out to them following Foster’s firing.
Iamaleava allegedly left the Vols after they refused to give him a raise on his $2M a year NIL deal. But through three games this season, he’s thrown for just 203 yards per game, three touchdowns and three interceptions.
His replacement at Tennessee, Joey Aguilar, who ironically transferred from UCLA after Iamaleava arrived, is averaging 302 yards per game with nine touchdowns and just two interceptions. Safe to say, the Vols and Aguilar made out okay in the end.
Iamaleava, however, might be having second thoughts, even if he hasn’t voiced them publicly.