To amplify things, Iamaleava joins a revamped UCLA culture under DeShaun Foster ahead of their second season in the Big Ten Conference. Foster finished his debut coaching season with a 5-7 record but has since changed the trajectory of the program in his first full offseason, conjuring up UCLA's best recruiting class in over a decade.

Former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava publicly pushed back against what he <a href=" "false reports" that his decision to transfer to UCLA was driven by an NIL dispute.

Tennessee was the talk of the 2025 college football transfer portal cycle for all the wrong reasons as quarterback Nico Iamaleava departed from the program in arguably the most confounding saga of the spring.

Tennessee football standout Boo Carter missed numerous team activities, and team leaders confronted him. Now his status is uncertain.

UCLA head coach Deshaun Foster doesn't quite understand some of the drama surrounding quarterback Nico Iamaleava's departure from the Tennessee Vols earlier this spring. Specifically, Foster doesn't understand why folks are making noise about the NIL aspect of Iamaleava's departure from Tennessee.

Joey Aguilar transferred to Tennessee and he is the presumed starter. However, ESPN believes he is better than Nico Iamaleava at avoided sacks.