The past few seasons as NIL and the Transfer Portal have become prevalent in this modern era of College Football, we've seen some truly insane storylines play out. This Spring we saw a divorce play out right before our eyes as grumblings came out that Nico Iamaleava wasn't happy with his NIL deal before he skipped practice and then the two sides parted ways. Nico Iamaleava headed back home to California to play for UCLA while Joey Aguilar took his place at Tennessee leaving UCLA.
While Iamaleava's camp has said that money wasn't the main issue, regardless of the issue it was crazy for him to leave Tennessee especially for a program like UCLA which was a clear step back. Not only was Iamaleava tasked with learning an offense in fall camp but, he was taking a step back with the talent surrounding him.
Even if Nico Iamaleava didn't mind playing for a team that wouldn't make the College Football Playoff, he had much more at stake. Iamaleava was a potential 1st round pick coming into the season and if he improved in Josh Heupel's offense he could've lived up to that hype and set himself up for a massive payday.
Instead, Nico Iamaleava is currently 0-2 with losses to Utah and UNLV and it's not like he's playing great and the team is letting him down. Through two stars, Iamaleava is 40-63 passing (63.5%) for 391 yards and 2 touchdowns with a pair of interceptions adding 106 yards rushing and a score.
When you compare Nico Iamaleava' production to Joey Aguilar's at Tennessee, you quickly realize how big of a mistake this may have been. In two games, Aguilar is 39-59 (66.1%) for 535 yards and 5 touchdowns without an interception. The reason that Aguilar's production isn't as high as it could be is the fact that he only played the 1st half of the East Tennessee State game.
This weekend, Joey Aguilar will be one of the key figures in one of the biggest storylines of the weekend as Tennessee and Georgia square off in a massive clash with College GameDay in town. The Bruins and Iamaleava are in a far less glamorous position as they'll face off with New Mexico on Friday Night.
While Nico Iamaleava can still turn this season around, it's highly unlikely as the Bruins aren't talented enough around him to go on a run in the Big Ten. The scenario we'll now most likely watch play out is Iamaleava returning to UCLA again next season rather than going to the NFL as a 1st round pick, which was the expectation when he signed with an offensive mind like Heupel coming out of High School.
At the end of the day, if the Iamaleava camp was worried about money this season, they likely cost themselves in a big way down the line.
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