Seeing a lot of articles/pundits saying Nico is likely done in college football. No school is going to pay what he wants and take a chance. Somewhat black balled by CFB. Seems like his agent royally screwed up. He definitely should have played another year and bet on himself and his performance
Nico Iamaleava likely done in CFB
- Thread starter edub72
- Start date
Pump the brakes there will be colleges after him. I saw on Twitter North Carolina was pursuing him.
I hope your right because if he gets what he wants the flood gates might open. I read somewhere he had like 2TDs vs ranked teams last year. Haven't confirmed this though.
OSU beat the living crap out of them first round. And I honestly thought OSU had the best chance to get upset 1st round out of all home playoff teams.
I really don't think this stuff will keep happening. Maybe for the elite of the elite ( Smith OSU). I bet this is a deterrence ( hopefully)
Can't be paying above average QBs at best 4 million.
OSU beat the living crap out of them first round. And I honestly thought OSU had the best chance to get upset 1st round out of all home playoff teams.
I really don't think this stuff will keep happening. Maybe for the elite of the elite ( Smith OSU). I bet this is a deterrence ( hopefully)
Can't be paying above average QBs at best 4 million.
He's going to play this year but at a reduced price from Tennessee imo
From what I understand the father is the biggest culprit in all of this. I think the kid needs to stand up for himself.
Yeah, he's not done in CFB. And now he's going to be blackballed. Which would be illegal, not to mention totally absurd. I'm not sure how you'd pursue something like that in the courts. Maybe you couldn't. Or who he'd sue exactly. If CFB coaches and programs all informally agreed not merely to refuse to meet any of his financial demands, but deny him a scholarship altogether. And effectively run him out of the sport, and slander him as a cancer to a program. Because it seems like a pretty straightforward scenario. I have no idea the specifics of his contractual arrangement, it's my understanding that the standard is month to month. So either party can break the deal at any time, just wait 'til th end of the month. And he wanted more and Tenn balked. And the relationship was severed. Transfer portal here we come. Not a big deal. Other than Tenn is down their starting QB.
Naturally CFB fans, who truly have a love/hate relationship with the players, and that's being extremely kind about it, are clumsily declaring this development a landmark moment in what will be the eventual demise of the hated NIL regime. The worm is turning! But the football establishment also pretty much hates NIL, it certainly wasn't their idea, and the early spin seems like anyway, is to take Tenn's side. Somehow, I don't know, that this player's too greedy or something? And for the good of his program, not to mention the sport itself, coach fat boy stood firm and did what was right. That sort of narrative. But I'm going to guess that's mainly just pandering to their howling fanbase. The sports media is now largely comprised of semi-professional podcasters with different journalistic agendas than the 'legacy media'.
Naturally CFB fans, who truly have a love/hate relationship with the players, and that's being extremely kind about it, are clumsily declaring this development a landmark moment in what will be the eventual demise of the hated NIL regime. The worm is turning! But the football establishment also pretty much hates NIL, it certainly wasn't their idea, and the early spin seems like anyway, is to take Tenn's side. Somehow, I don't know, that this player's too greedy or something? And for the good of his program, not to mention the sport itself, coach fat boy stood firm and did what was right. That sort of narrative. But I'm going to guess that's mainly just pandering to their howling fanbase. The sports media is now largely comprised of semi-professional podcasters with different journalistic agendas than the 'legacy media'.
Which is a joke b/c I believe they already have 2 transfer QBs coming in im pretty sure and I believe one is a 4 star. So they get ousted for this Nico clown.
I don't think the kid is a clown. His father was the one pushing for his son to get 4 million for 2025 as opposed to the agreed upon 2.2 million. They had an agreement that the family chose to break. Tennessee gave him 350k when he was a senior in high school. It's a really bad look for the player. I'm sure someone will take him but his value is certainly diminished now. Doubt he'll even get the 2.2 he would have gotten at Tennessee. One of my colleagues is our rep to Tennessee and said the father is a giant pain in the ass at every turn.
As much as we like to refer to these guys as young men who can and should think for themselves, the reality is they have parents and advisors and ex coaches and other players in their ears, and dad’s in particular can be a major influence. I haven’t read anything re this than what has been posted here, but I think he just put way too much trust in his dad, and allowed the hype of his inner circle to think he was somehow being taken advantage of. I wish my son had been abused by $2.2M at that age!
What do you do exactly, now that you bring it up all the time, if you don't mind my asking? Since you're some big NIL consultant. Are you on the teams' side or the players' side? It's difficult to imagine someone like you advising players, so I'm assuming you're meting out your wisdom to befuddled CFB coaches who don't know what to do.
And Josh Heupel looks like he was clueless, maybe he could have used the help. He used to be a player once, like most coaches, but that was from an earlier time. He's firmly on the side of ownership now.
In Lane Kiffins 10 years as a head coach he has never had a 1st rd QB. In fact, his highest drafted QB was a 3rd rounder. If Dart goes it would his first but Dart may go on the 2nd. We'll see
Now, now don't go bringing facts into the discussion. That doesn't play well with certain posters.
I have nothing to do with players at all. The group I work for contracts with universities and conferences in helping them manage the ever changing landscape of NIL. We work basically as a middle man between the collectives and the compliance offices. We help create structure and basic guidelines to implement into their administration of NIL. It's not just football. We cover all sports. We have nothing to do with who gets what or any contract negotiations. We provide consulting services that help universities navigate the process. The final House settlement will change things dramatically and as a company we need to be prepared for what's coming down the pike. Our group consists of a number of former athletes, coaches and administrators from the college ranks.
Can you comment at all with any certainty as to how competitive ND is from an NIL standpoint? From what i read ND is competitive, but not as competitive as others. And they're also not doing the shady practice of promising recruits a boatload of money that isn't going to come. Thats a good thing, but the concern is ND loses recruits as a result.
Notre Dame follows NIL rules as they are intended to be. Many universities, if previous history is an indicator, do not. Corruption and under the table cash payments will always be a a part of CFB at certain universities, no matter what happens in the courts with NIL.
Sure, now they are not currently one of our clients but they are in the upper 15% in my opinion. I'm not privy to every schools numbers but it's not hard to figure out. It's not just the money for every kid. I can tell you with absolute certainty that geography plays a fairly significant part of some kids decision making. At this point the compensation is very similar at all the blue bloods. ND is a different animal as the academic requirements to get in and stay in are still in play. There are some kids that just can't get in or are not interested in what is required. They can get similar money with less challenges. Freeman has made ND a desirable place again with his attitude, personality and likeability. He resonates with these young men in a way that is genuine. He doesn't BS them. He appeals to the kids who don't require their egos to be stroked on a daily basis. I think it's very refreshing in a really cynical, back stabbing me first business.
Last edited:
I understand Nico's father wanting to do what is best for his son, but it sure seems like he overplayed his hand. He apparently believed he could leverage other NIL offers that Nico supposedly received from other schools to get UT to up the ante. Didn't go down that way, and in the process of playing that game the father may have done his son more harm than good. I cannot imagine one of the blue blood schools will bring Nico on board, but I suppose we will see. Supposedly Tulane offered Nico a $4M NIL deal, so maybe he will end up there. But I think playing QB at Tulane as opposed to UT isn't going to help Nico's NFL draft stock. If Nico's ultimate goal is to play NFL football, I think Nico's father may have unwittingly undermined those efforts, because now NFL GMs will take pause and wonder whether Nico is a team player. It is usually not a good strategy to sacrifice long-term success for short-term benefits.
Nicos father wanted to do what's best for himself. Not his son
Yeah, I think he did, that's the word on the street. Dad really did a number on him. Don't know what's going to happen to Nico now. Everyone's turning on him. And denigrating him. Like he was a bum the whole time. The elite media, sans pot-stirrer Paul Finebaum, are trying to stay above the fray, and it's just the facts. But everywhere else he's being dragged through the mud. And now he's radioactive, and nobody wants him. He's a locker room cancer!
But, I guess he was at least some trouble to deal with. And Tenn supposedly was very patient with him all this time. But even their patience has limits.
I read on another board that less than 50% of college athletes who enter the portal actually end up at another university. If that statistic is accurate, and I don't know that it is, seems like there are a lot of kids throwing away the security of a college scholarship and degree for the chance to play somewhere else. Perhaps chasing the dream is worth that risk for those kids.
I realize your business specializes in the management of NIL and not the portal, but since much of the brave new world of NIL deals may involve kids coming out of the portal, just wondered whether that statistic has any validity, based upon your experience. Seems like a crazy number, if true.
Absolutely it is accurate. The number of players in the portal is very high. There just are not enough spots and the hoped for money to go around. I don't believe it's a decision that should ever be an impulsive one.
College football is BIG BUSINESS. And as in any business, people -- often amateurs or those not quite part of the landscape -- TAKE BIG SWINGS and, as you put it, OVERPLAY THEIR HAND.
But there may also have been a CALCULUS -- one that caused the kid's old man to get TOO GRABBY. And it may have had him THINKING AHEAD to his son's NOT MAKING IT IN THE NFL, and going for the GUSTO now.
I'm PURELY SPECULATING HERE. But if there's that kind of money to be had -- THOUGH THERE WASN'T -- maybe there are times when it's a surer bet to grab it and not have to worry so much about making it in the NFL or, WORSE, making it and having CRT at the age of 45.
How's Brett Favre doing these days?
I don't think they called his bluff, he tried to call their bluff and they were like, 'What? You suck. We don't want you anymore'. He called their bluff, and they weren't bluffing. Is what it was I think.
I thought about that same possibility. I suppose in Las Vegas they would call that hedging your bet. Nico and his father are probably confident he is NFL material, but in the event things don't pan out for him down the road, go for the money grab now. And I suppose there are many investors on Wall Street who have gotten rich off such strategies. Through a friend I became acquainted with a guy who managed a hedge fund that specialized in the Japan market. It seemed like he printed money. Multiple houses in the US and abroad, nice vacations, fancy cars, multiple memberships in exclusive country clubs; he lived a good life. He had about a dozen traders in his office and they sat all day in front of banks of computer screens. But in the office they also had a pool table, ping pong table, and multiple pinball machines to blow off steam when they weren't grinding out trades. It was an interesting life, and by all appearances a very lucrative one if you knew what you were doing.
He was, by far, the best QB on the Tennessee depth chart. Not even close.
Pointing to stats, and saying the dude was average as a true freshman, is misguided. Nico is 20-years-old, still growing as a CFB QB, and has a high ceiling, IMO.
All that said, Nico got bad advice.
Last edited:
It's always a awesome feeling when playing high stakes poker and you call someone's bluff.
Terrible feeling when you get fluffed though
Reports on local so. California sports talk radio are that Nico has committed to UCLA. Nico grew up 45 minutes from UCLA. Tino Sunseri is the new OC in Westwood, would be a good fit.
That was quick. I thought he was finished. That was actually some of the manic rhetoric, that he was through. That he had done messed with the wrong football program, and everyone was going to turn on this greedy bastard, and he was out, his career was kaput. Maybe D-2 ball? And message sent to these uppity football stars too big for 'dem britches !
And 24 hours later he's at UCLA. Which seems like an eminently suitable place for him to play in these circumstances. Just wonder what his pay pack is? Of course he didn't get 4 million, but is he still at 2? Probably should have gone there out of HS.
Although the advice he received was bad, Nico was a starting true freshman QB last season, and a good one. 6-5, maybe 6-6, runs really well, throws well. UCLA upgraded their qb room considerably.
