The Iamaleava situation is a shot across the bow of college athletics

Billy Napier has agreements with 98 percent of the players on his roster (Photo by Chris Spears)

“It’s terrorists, Sam. They’ve taken my stomach hostage and they’re demanding beer as ransom.” – Norm Peterson, “Cheers” barfly

Norm got his beer and the terrorists released his stomach. Quarterback Nico Iamaleava tried to hold Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Vols hostage this past weekend for more money. Tennessee said no, ending a potential  hostage standoff by releasing Iamaleava from his job as the Vols starting quarterback.

On the same day the Vols avoided a holdout by an already well-paid quarterback, Florida football coach Billy Napier said after the Orange and Blue Game, “We’ve reached agreements with 98 percent of the team.” To a follow-up comment, Napier said, “Welcome” as if to say welcome to the new age of college football.

This is a new era of college sports we are in, one that can re-shape the entire landscape. In a few years we may be looking back on this situation with Tennessee thanking Nico Iamaleava for creating the groundswell to fix the problems. Or, we might be looking back and saying Nico Iamaleava was the warning sign that something had to be done and it was ignored.

Iamaleava signed an NIL deal for a ridiculous $8 million out of high school in California three years ago. He took a redshirt year, so figure $2 million was absolutely wasted his freshman season. A year ago he was a good, but certainly not great quarterback for a 10-3 Tennessee team that lost in the first round of the College Football Playoff to Ohio State. Iamaleava wasn’t exactly the catalyst to those 10 Tennessee wins. They had more to do with a great running game and a stout defense than the QB who threw for all of 104 yards against Ohio State.

Had Tennessee not cut the cord, Iamaleava would have been paid $2.4 million for the 2025 football season, which isn’t bad for a 20-year-old without a college degree and no other marketable skills except to fling a football. Apparently, Iamaleava and the people who advise him thought they had the Vols over a barrel since all the really good quarterbacks have already transferred. When Iamaleava refused to practice a day before the spring football game, probably the last thing he expected was to be shown the door.

Tennessee should be applauded for having the guts to give the heave ho to a QB with an ego large enough to command its own area code. The Vols would rather go down with kids at QB than one who puts himself ahead of the team.

Someone will hire Nico Iamaleava. There are too many schools with quarterback issues out there, but it would be a shock if someone pays him even as much as he would have made this year at UT. Southern Cal is desperate enough. So is UCLA. Some folks are suggesting North Carolina, but it’s hard to imagine Bill Belichick setting a bad precedent before he’s ever coached a college game.

Of course, we also thought Tennessee was nuts to make an $8 million deal for Iamaleava in the first place only to have a rather wealthy booster and a now defunct collective to offer Jaden Rashada $13.8 million to be a Florida Gator. The $8 million deal was nuts. The $13.8 million beyond stupid. When it came time to make the first installment, there was nothing close to what Rashada had been promised so a rather quick divorce was arranged. Rashada transferred to Arizona State, where he spent an injury-filled year, then transferred to Georgia where he couldn’t beat out Gunner Stockton for the role as Carson Beck’s caddy. Rashada is back in the portal again looking for a new suitor. Beck is at Miami, which is going to pay him $4.2 million, which is about $3 million more than he’s worth.

Florida isn’t off the hook with Rashada, whose attorneys have taken matters to court. Perhaps this is all a nuisance suit that Florida will settle for a million or so rather than go through a trial, but if no settlement can be arranged this lawsuit could be a major distraction for Billy Napier and the Florida Gators. The Gators have surrounded QB DJ Lagway with the kind of talent that could make UF into an SEC and national championship contender. The last thing Napier and the Gators need is a drawn out court case that distracts from a potentially great season.  

The last thing any college football coach needs is a prima dona QB holding out for more money, but isn’t this where we’re headed? There are no guardrails on the portal and nothing that can prevent schools overpaying kids who have never proven anything. A week ago in San Antonio, I spent a few minutes with Jay Wright, the former ultra-successful coach at Villanova. He walked away from the game rather than deal with a system that he sees teetering on the verge of crashing and burning.

“When you have 18-year-old kids making more money than their coaches, you have a real problem,” Wright told me. “When kids can take the money and run, which is what we have now, the problem escalates. This system can’t be sustained. This is professional sports but we have nobody in charge who knows how to run them.”

Congress and the NCAA are about to sign off on a settlement that coaches are prayerful will solve the problems facing college sports, but who are we fooling? At best, this is a Band-Aid that will only delay the inevitable. The rich will get richer and the wanna-be schools will struggle even more than they do already. Athletic departments will slough off non-revenue sports and some may declare bankruptcy.

How do we know this will happen? The NCAA is involved and history tells us that anything the NCAA touches will eventually screw up.

There is but one answer and that begins with college football seceding from the NCAA. Football pays for all the other sports and it cannot be shackled any longer by an NCAA run by academics who have zero in the way of business sense. A new organization with a commissioner who has the power to enforce the rules is a must and it has to be configured on a model similar to the NFL, complete with contracts for every player and a salary cap.

The time to do it is now. The Nico Iamaleava situation is a warning of what’s to come if common sense doesn’t prevail.  

SEC BASKETBALL AND THE PORTAL

Alabama

Goners: PF Jarin Stephenson (6-11, 210, SO, to North Carolina); SF Mouhamed Dioubate (6-7, 215, SO, to Kentucky); SF Naas Cunningham (6-7, 175, FR)

Newbies: PG Jalil Bethea (6-5, 190, FR, from Miami); PF Taylor Bol Bowen (6-10, 205, SO, from Florida State); C Noah Williamson (7-0, 224, JR, from Bucknell)

Arkansas

Goners: Zvonimir Ivisic (7-2, to Illinois); PG Casmir Chavis (6-0, 180, FR)

Newbies: C Nick Pringle (6-10, 220, SR, from South Carolina)

Auburn

Goners: Jahki Howard (6-6, 185, FR)

Newbies: Keyshawn Hall (6-7, 240, JR, from UCF)

FLORIDA

Goners: PG Kajus Kublicas (6-1, 180, SO)

Georgia

Goners: Silas Demery Jr. (6-5, 195, JR, to UConn); PG Savo Drezgic (6-4, 200, FR); PF RJ Godfrey (7-7, 225, JR, to Clemson); SG DeShayne Montgomery (6-4, 190, SO, to Dayton)

Newbies: Justin Bailey (6-3, 185, JR, from Wofford); PG Jeremiah Wilkinson (6-1, 185, FR, from California); SF Kanon Catchings (6-9, 190, FR, from BYU)

Kentucky

Goners: PG Kerr Kriisa (6-3, 180, JR, to Cincinnati)

Newbies: C Jayden Quaintance (6-9, 225, FR, from Arizona State); SF Mouhamed Dioubate (from Alabama); PG Jaland Lowe (6-2, 170, SO, from Pittsburgh); PF Kam Williams (6-8, 190, FR, from Tulane)

LSU

Goners: SG Vyctorius Miller (6-5, 185, FR, to Oklahoma State); PF Corey Chest (6-8, 220, FR, to Ole Miss); PF Daimion Collins (6-9, 202, SR); PF Noah Boyde (7-0, 245, JR, to Western Kentucky); SG Mike Williams (6-3, 180, SO); SG Tyrell Ward (6-6, 195, JR)

Newbies: PF Marquel Sutton (6-7, 205, JR, from Nebraska-Omaha); SG Max McKinnon (6-5, 200, JR, from Pepperdine); SG Rashad King (6-6, 198, JR, from Northeastern); PG Dedan Thomas (6-0, 175, FR, from UNLV); C Michael Nwoko (6-10, 245, SO, from Mississippi State); PF Lassina Traore (6-10, 230, SR, from Xavier)

Mississippi State

Goners: C Michael Nwoko (6-10, 245, SO, to LSU); PF KeShawn Murphy (6-10, 245, JR); SG Riley Kugel (6-5, 210, JR, to UCF); PG Kanye Clary (5-11, 190, JR, to Oklahoma State); SF Adrian Myers (6-6, 205, FR); C Jeremy Foumena (6-11, 235, SO); SF Harrison Alexander (6-4, 190, FR) 

Newbies: C Quincy Ballard (6-11, 240, SR, from Wichita State); PG Ja’Borri McGhee (6-0, 200, FR, from UAB)

Missouri

Goners: C Josh Gray (7-0, 260; SR); SG Marcus Allen (6-7, 200, FR); SF Aidan Shaw (6-9, 210, JR, to Boston College); C Peyton Marshall (7-0, 300, FR)

Newbies: SG Sebastian Mack (from UCLA); C Luke Northweather (6-11, 240, RSO from Oklahoma); PF Jevon Porter (6-11, 235, JR, from Loyola Marymount); C Shawn Phillips (7-0, 245, JR, from Arizona State)

Oklahoma

Goners: C Luke Northweather (6-11, 240, RSO to Missouri); SF Tae Davis (6-9, 240, JR, from Notre Dame); SG Duke Miles (6-2, 175, SR, to Virginia); SF Jacolb-Fredson Cole (6-7, 220, FR to McNeese); C YaYa Keita (6-9, 241, JR)

Newbies: PG Nijel Pack (6-0, 180, SR, from Miami); SF Tae Davis (from Notre Dame); PG Xzayvier Brown (6-2, 165, SO, from Saint Joseph’s)

Ole Miss

Goners: C John Bol (7-2, 210, FR); SG TJ Caldwell (6-4, 190, JR)

Newbies: PF Corey Chest (6-8, 220, FR, from LSU)

South Carolina

Goners: PF Okku Federiko (6-8, 220, FR); SF Morris Ugusuk (6-4, 170, SO); SG Cam Scott (6-6, 170, FR); PG Jamarii Thomas (6-0, 185, SR); PG Meechie Johnson (6-2, 175, SR, to Ohio State); SG Austin Herro (6-3, 180, FR); C Nick Pringle (6-10, 220, SR, to Arkansas); SG Arden Conyers (6-7, 204, FR); SG Zachary Davis (6-7, 200, JR)

Newbies: SG Kobe Knox (6-5, 185, JR, from South Florida); SF Treysen Eaglestaff (6-6, 190, SR, from North Dakota); C Christ Essendoko (7-0. 285, SO, from Providence); PF Elijah Strong (from Boston College)

Tennessee

Newbies: PF Jaylen Carey (6-8, 265, SO, from Vanderbilt); PG Ja’Kobi Gillespie (6-1, 175, JR, from Maryland)

Texas A&M

Goners: George Turkson (6-7, 220, JR, to Maryland); SG Andre Mills (6-4, 200, FR, to Maryland); C Pharrel Payne (6-9, 230, to Maryland); SF Solomon Washington (6-7, 225, JR); PF Janus Ratowski (6-11, 225, FR); SF Jaelen Lee (6-6, 195, S0); SF Rob Dockery (6-6, 215, FR)

Newbies: SF Zach Clemence (6-10, 225, RFR, from Kansas); PG Jacari Lane (6-0, 178, JR, from North Alabama)

Vanderbilt

Goners: PF Jaylen Carey (to Tennessee); PG Jason Edwards (6-1, 175, JR, to Providence); PG Jordan Williams (6-2, 215, JR); SF Alex Hemenway (6-4, 190, SR); PF Jaqualon Roberts (6-8, 230, SO); PG Karris Bilal (6-2, 190, FR)

Newbies: PG Frankie Collins (6-1, 185, JR, from TCU); C Mason Nicholson (6-10, 280, JR, from Jacksonville State); PF Jalen Washington (6-10, 225, JR, from North Carolina)