There are countless ways things can go south for a team in college athletics these days. But for Tennessee, they didn’t let that happen—they did the exact opposite. When Nico Iamaleava and his camp started getting greedy, head coach Josh Heupel made a decisive move, dismissing him after he chose to skip practice the day before a game.
This wasn’t an isolated incident. Back in February, the redshirt sophomore skipped two workouts because his father was trying to renegotiate a deal with Spire. That’s when the foundation began to crack, leading to an eventual blowup on a random Friday morning.
Initial reports claimed that Iamaleava’s agent had gone behind the family’s back. But as it turns out, he doesn’t have a formal agent—just his dad and a close family friend.
“Unannounced to both Nic and Nico, their agent went behind their back to work negotiations once again. When he overplayed his hand, things got messy quickly,” Ryan Roberts wrote.
Since then, more information has surfaced, including claims that Iamaleava’s camp began reaching out to other schools following Tennessee’s playoff loss.
“According to the report, Tennessee believed Iamaleava’s camp reached out to multiple schools during the winter, including Miami, Ole Miss, and Oregon,” Shane Shoemaker wrote.
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Months later, his camp effectively sabotaged any chance of landing at those schools—and others. But that wasn’t all. A few days before Iamaleava walked away, he gave a heads-up to one of his teammates.
"I'm getting in the portal, if you need to handle your business," Iamaleava said while walking off the field.
A Tennessee player overheard him say this, though the plan wasn’t originally to enter the portal until after the Spring Game. The worst part? When Heupel asked him directly about it, Iamaleava downplayed the rumors, claiming it was just talk. Days later, he was gone.