Oklahoma football GM Jim Nagy doesn’t want Tennessee transfer Nico Iamaleava or anything resembling the former Volunteers quarterback’s situation on Rocky Top. Nagy made his stance clear on Sunday after Iamaleava hit the transfer portal Saturday following an NIL dispute.
“This can't happen here,” Nagy told Sooners' staffers at the Crimson Combine, per 247 Sports. “There are red flags along the way that probably could've pointed to this happening…. That's a doomsday scenario.
“Knowing the player is one thing; we can all watch the tape and identify that. But when we have families on campus we have players on campus, that's really work to get to know them.”
Sooners head football coach Brent Venables used coach-speak to avoid making any direct judgments on Iamaleava – a smart move considering he’d probably like to land similar recruits in the future.
"I think you want to be out in front of everything. Being proactive, and retention is the most important part of the whole puzzle. I think it starts inside-out. You want to develop a locker room that has continuity, consistency, stability. That's healthy to be successful… But the front office is there to try to be your headlights and be proactive and to anticipate and to have on-hand management when it comes to, again, the fluidity and the ability to adapt and pivot at any step along the way,” Venables said.
Venables also didn’t have much room to speak on UT’s NIL drama when he handed Wazzu transfer John Mateer the kind of money that set the market for Iamaleava.
Iamaleava was never going to OU, but perhaps the well-respected Nagy’s words could have other GMs second-guessing whether or not to bring in the Long Beach, California native.