Pressure growing on Nico Iamaleava’s dad after $8 million Tennessee standoff went wrong

Like many already suspected, Nico Iamaleava’s father, Nic, played a major role in his son’s drama and departure from Tennessee —  despite his denial.

“The family are happy (with Tennessee),” Iamaleava family friend Cordell Landers told CBS Sports amidst reports of Iamaleava’s potential Volunteers exit.. “There are no (contract negotiations); they’re happy with the contract they have.”

Evidently, that wound up not being the case, as Iamaleava entered the Spring transfer portal and his dad reportedly made much of the decision.

Iamaleava doesn’t have an agent like many players do to handle typical NIL negotiations. Instead, his dad and Landers, who is well known in high school and college football circles and a former Florida personnel staffer, handle the majority of negotiations with programs and their collectives, according to The Athletic.

But this time around? Landers reportedly did not play a factor.

“Landers was not directly involved in any of the recent contract talks between Iamaleava and Tennessee’s collective,” The Athletic reported from an involved source.

Many at Tennessee believe that Iamaleava’s decision was majorly rooted in his father’s own wants, as the young quarterback followed his father’s lead in finding the most hefty financial situation with minimal care for the fit on the field or the timing of the move, the report added.

This wouldn’t be the first example of Nic Iamaleava doing so, either.

Nico’s younger brother, Madden, was handled by his father in a similar fashion in the past year.

Madden Iamaleava is also a quarterback and transferred high schools three games into his senior season alongside his top wide receiver, “to improve the tandem’s chemistry and receive different coaching.” He was then ruled ineligible and did not even play for the school.

Madden and his teammate, Jace Brown, also promptly flipped their commitments from UCLA to Arkansas, and Nic Iamaleava noted to 247Sports that they never even visited Arkansas.

While Madden Iamaleava’s future was always going to be cloudy considering his last-minute switch-ups, Nico at least seemed to have a steady setup in Knoxville with the Volunteers — until now.

This week’s drama isn’t the first time Nic Iamaleava has stirred the pot either, as Iamaleava’s camp explored transferring just after Tennessee’s elimination from the College Football Playoff last season.

Even during the College Football Playoff, 247Sports reported that Iamaleava was one of many players to try and negotiate more money for their participation in the CFP. 

“They were trying to get more money out of Tennessee,” Pate said. “Other players on playoff teams were trying to get more money out of playoff teams before the playoff games. They were trying to leverage playoff participation.”

After signing his record-breaking $8 million NIL deal in March 2022, Iamaleava and his father have deemed it’s time for more money — and it will come at the cost of having to learn an entirely new offense and gain a team’s trust in period shorter than any player or team would typically like.

An NIL holdout like Iamaleava’s could be the first of a concerning future.