After Nico Iamaleava's Tennessee Exit, Josh Heupel And Team Make It Clear No Player Is Bigger Than The Team

KNOXVILLE - Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel got off the bus, preparing to walk towards Neyland Stadium surrounded by Tennessee fans. It had already been a busy day, trying to deal with a different type of noise that had engulfed the Vols program over the previous 48 hours, as news about Nico Iamaleava's exit was made public.

To say it was an awkward moment would be an understatement. There was just a different vibe, which is usually the case for a spring football game. But on this day, it was the absence of Nico Iamaleava that garnered all the attention, even with the quarterback no longer with the team. 

As news broke on Saturday morning that Tennessee and Iamaleava had officially filed for divorce, it was clear that this was going to be an awkward afternoon, which most fans were prepared for. 

While the news of Nico traveled throughout college football circles, the aftermath of what transpired pver the previous 48 hours finally came to a boiling point, as the team took the field without the quarterback who has led them for the past 16 months. 

In almost a fitting way, one of the loudest cheers inside the stadium came when former quarterback Hendon Hooker was recognized on the field along with Eric Berry, Josh Dobbs, Al Wilson and Princeton Fant. 

Hendon told me that he was ‘just as shocked as everyone else’ about the news of Nico Iamaleava, which is just about the same reaction the entire Tennessee fan base had on Friday evening. 

Tennessee trying to move on from Nico Iamaleava drama Via: Trey Wallace

But, if we're beng honest, this day was about Tennessee and Josh Heupel trying to turn the page on what has been a massive problem for the stability of the Vols program. It was clear the athletic department was not going to be held up by one player, which Josh Heupel discussed briefly before the ‘spring game’ started. 

"It’s the state of college football. At the end of the day, no one is ever bigger than the program. That includes me, too," Heupel said pregame. "We’ve got an opportunity. We’ve got a bunch of guys that will give their all for Tennessee."

As for the fans, I'm sure it helped some attendance numbers that this news broke on Friday, given that it looked as though around 30,000 folks were inside Neyland Stadium, with plenty of them leaving an hour into the ‘game.' Turns out, it was actually 38,000 fans, which is a nice number for a glorified practice for a team that wasn’t going to have their previous starting quarterback take the field. 

When spring practice started over a month ago, this day was going to be about putting the final touches on what had been a pretty quiet camp for Tennessee. But when the morning finally arrived, the Vols football program had already cleaned out the locker of Nico Iamaleava, with Josh Heupel speaking to his team about why this moment in time was going to be important. 

The only aspect of Saturday that really mattered was how Tennessee would respond to the events surrounding Nico Iamaleava during the previous 51 hours before Josh Heupel stepped to the podium to discuss this situation that had reached its tipping point. 

But, a lot of this started months ago, obviously building up to this point. It didn’t help the situation that reps for Nico Iamaleava reportedly reached out to Oregon, just as spring practice was set to begin. I also don't think it was a coincidence that Dan Lanning was asked on Saturday if he had contacted Josh Heupel to let him know about the phone call the Ducks had received. 

While Lanning did not answer the question, saying he wanted to focus on Oregon football, it's pretty easy to decipher this ‘coach speak’, which has led to many drawing their own conclusions. 

Josh Heupel, Tennessee Players Talk About Nico Iamaleava Ordeal

While the college football world has had plenty to say over the past few days, it was Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel, along with both remaining quarterbacks, Miles Kitselman and Arion Carter, ready to tackle the subject head on. 

"Today’s landscape of college football, it’s different than what it has been," Heupel first noted. "And it’s unfortunate, just the situation and where we’re at with Nico. I want to thank him for everything that he’s done since he’s gotten here. That’s as a recruit to who he was as a player and how he competed inside of the building. So a great appreciation for that side of it. 

"Obviously we’re moving forward as a program without him. I said it to the guys today, there’s no one that’s bigger than the Power T and that includes me. And they hear me say that a lot inside of that team room. This program has been around for a long time with a lot of great coaches, a lot of great players that came before that laid the cornerstone pieces, the legacy, the tradition that is Tennessee Football. It’s going to be around a long time after I’m done and after they’re gone."

While the conversation continued, it was clear that this entire situation was a bit overwhelming, given the circumstances, and Heupel's relationship with Nico Iamaleava. 

It's not as if this is easy for coaches, and it doesn't matter how much money they are making, these guys have relationships with players. And, according to multiple sources, Huepel and Iamaleva had a strong bond dating back to when the quarterback was being recruited out of high school. 

But, as we continue to traverse this era of college athletics, clearly the business side of these types of situations are usually going to prevail. Which is one reason why the former Tennessee quarterback would not pick up the phone on Friday after skipping practice, which was not the smartest thing to do in the grad scheme of things. 

The entire situation had reached a point of no return, and these were not decisions that were just made on a whim. It's been festering for some time, but no one inside the Vols football complex thought it would turn so dysfunctional, so quick. 

Asked on Saturday afternoon about when he knew things were over between Nico and Tennessee, Josh Heupel pointed straight to the missed practice.

"Friday morning, when he's a no show," Heupel noted. "When you come off the practice field, and there's no communication, so yea. 

If some people had gotten their way inside the athletic department, this would've been over with on Friday afternoon. 

Josh Heuepl clearly had an opportunity to go further into the situation, but the Tennessee head coach knew that he was not only speaking to the fans, he was also speaking to future recruits of the program.

But, that doesn’t mean current players wouldn’t voice their frustration in a different way than the head coach. 

"I loved walking out on the practice field Friday and I kinda just gazed around to see if anybody was (freaking) out, or people in the corner talking," tight end Miles Kitlesman noted. "Nobody skipped a beat, and I loved seeing that. You know, it's plug and play, but I knew something needed to be said. 

After watching the players sit at the podium and answer questions, it's clear that they are still upset, and probably will be for a while. But again, it's not as if the volcano just erupted on Friday morning out of nowhere. The mountain had been shaking a bit over the last few months. 

While it might not show on the faces of younger players, or in their answers, it doesn't take much to notice from the leaders that they have to turn the page. 

As for this entire ordeal, and we are far from done talking about it with more dialogue coming, it's clear that this Tennessee team is still going through the motions, but that it's time to move on with the players currently on the team, as Josh Heupel mentioned in his final words of the spring. 

"At the end of the day, he's moving on, we're moving on too, and we'll be ready to roll when we get to next fall."