Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava Doesn’t Show For Practice Amid Contract Talks. Should Josh Heupel Send A Message?

Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava did not attend spring practice on Friday morning, according to multiple sources, which has turned this entire ordeal with the Vols quarterback and the school into a massive frenzy around college football. 

The absence from practice comes one day after it was reported by On3 that Tennessee and Iamaleava were in ongoing negotiations surrounding a new deal for the quarterback. If you remember, Nico signed an $8 million deal coming out of high school, which would pay him around $2.4 million for the upcoming season. 

Update: Tennessee has spent Friday trying to get in touch with Nico Iamaleava, but has not had any success up to this point. The situation is still ongoing, as Tennessee prepares for its Spring game on Saturday. It got to a point on Friday where the football program was actually worried about the safety of Iamaleava, as the quarterback would not return messages from teammates, along with school officials. 

But, Tennessee is obviously not going to throw someone under the bus, given that this entire situation will set a precedent for the football program moving forward. At this point, there's no reason for Nico to show up to the facility on Saturday for the spring game, given the lack of communication has been seen as a sign of disrespect. Not only to the coaches, but also his teammates. 

"What the heck happened on April 11th, 2025" 

There have been conversations in recent months, and days, about a potential increase in Nico's NIL deal, but according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation, the Vols were not going to be held up and forced into a new deal. But, they were willing to have discussions, as we've seen the market change over the past few years. 

If you look around the sport, the money continues to rise. This past off-season, it was reported that former Tulane QB Darian Mensah received a two-year deal from Duke that would pay him $4 million per year. And the list could go on. From Bryce Underwood to Carson Beck, it's obvious that schools are willing to pay more for players who they think are worth the payday. 

Speaking with one agent on Friday evening, there were rumblings about Nico's side trying to leverage potential offers from other schools in an attempt to get Tennessee to budge. 

"It's not like Nico's side was trying to keep things really quiet about gauging the interest of a few schools. If anything, they did the young kid zero favors in this situation, the agent told OutKick. "Do you really think he (Nico) would ghost his coach, who he has a good relationship with, just by his own thinking? There are certain ways you handle these types of situations in our business. 

"No matter where he plays football next season, I can promise you one of the first things NFL teams will ask about down the road when he enters the draft is what the heck happened on April 11th, 2025."

This is when things started to take a turn, as representatives for the quarterback had been looking for a restructured deal that would see Nico's yearly price tag rise. But, there is now a very contentious situation inside the Tennessee football complex, which obviously escalated when the quarterback did not show up for a walk-through type of practice on Friday, just one day before the Vols' spring game. 

This news came as a surprise to folks inside the Tennessee football building, as they expected their quarterback to show up for the morning practice/ 

In regard to the ‘contract negotiations,' Nico's father, Nic, took to social media late Thursday night to call out a reporter, while at the same time acting as if there was nothing going on regarding contract talks and the quarterback. So, while Nico's handler, along with his father, released a statement on social media, you've now got a volcano that is about to erupt on the Tennessee campus. 

Games Certainly Being Played Off The Field With Nico Iamaleava

Talking with multiple sources over the past 24 hours, there are certainly games being played behind the scenes. There has been a sense of frustration around the team, even with Nico Iamaleava having a solid spring up to this point. But, when internal business is put out into the open, things can change very quickly. 

Looking at it from Tennessee's side, if you cave to one player's demands, you're opening the door for multiple others to walk into the office and ask for more money. Whether folks like it or not, this is now professional sports. But, there are ways this type of stuff is handled in the NFL, NBA or even MLB, and not showing up while you're being paid is not the smartest of strategies. 

On the other hand, if Nico's side felt as though certain agreements weren't lived up to, then taking a drastic measure like this was something they felt was necessary at the moment. There are obviously two sides to every story, and I'd imagine the Iamaleava family will speak about some of the issues in the future, wherever that might be. Even if it's in Knoxville. 

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - OCTOBER 12: Nico Iamaleava #8 of the Tennessee Volunteers plays against the Florida Gators during their game at Neyland Stadium on October 12, 2024 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)

Now, Josh Heupel has a very important decision to make regarding the future of his football program. Do you allow something like this to go down, even if he loves his quarterback? This is a business now, and players have to be held accountable. In the same way that schools have to be held in check if they are trying to get one over on a player. 

This is why the situation feels like it will be hard to come back from. As I wrote on Thursday, once the news of a contract negotiation was brought to light, Nico Iamaleava was going to have to answer questions about this situation, with the first ones coming on Saturday afternoon. Tennessee was not going to shy away from the situation and keep the starting quarterback from speaking with the media, to shield him from questions. 

So, it was either get with the program, handle your business behind the scenes, or take another school's bag and move on. 

Right now, Tennessee is the hottest subject in college football, for all the wrong reasons.