College football’s highest-profile transfer is coming home.
After a falling out with Tennessee, Nico Iamaleava has agreed to play for UCLA next season in a move that will generate significant buzz for the Bruins after they added a quarterback who took his previous team to the College Football Playoff.
But the nature of Iamaleava’s departure, which reportedly involved a desire for more name, image and likeness money from the Volunteers at a time when most teams had lined up a starting quarterback for next season, could make Iamaleava a polarizing figure before he sets foot on his new campus.
Iamaleava announced his commitment to the Bruins on his Instagram account Sunday, ending more than a week of speculation about his future.
“My journey at UT has come to an end,” Iamaleava’s post read. “This decision was incredibly difficult, and truthfully, not something I expected to make this soon. But I trust God’s timing, and I believe He’s leading me where I need to be.
“Even though, this chapter is ending, a new chapter has begun and I am committed to UCLA!”
It was not immediately clear how much Iamaleava, a Long Beach native whose initial college deal reportedly was set to pay him more than $2 million to pay for Tennessee next season, agreed to accept from the Bruins as part of his move back to Southern California. An unnamed friend of Iamaleava’s family told Front Office Sports that the dissatisfaction with the Volunteers centered on the need to bolster the offensive line and receiving corps, not a demand for additional compensation.
UCLA appeared to have substantial leverage in negotiations given that most teams had committed to a starting quarterback for next season, significantly reducing demand for a high-priced transfer. Further limiting Iamaleava’s options, he couldn’t have gone to another Southeastern Conference school without sitting out a season as part of conference rules associated with entering the transfer portal in the spring.
The redshirt sophomore will have three seasons of remaining eligibility. Moving from a CFP participant to a team that hasn’t won a conference championship in more than a quarter of a century presents some risk for Iamaleava in his bid to win at the highest level of college football before moving on to the NFL. He’ll have to learn a new offense relatively quickly after presumably missing the rest of spring practice and joining the team upon his enrollment this summer.
The addition of Iamaleava leaves in doubt the future of Joey Aguilar, who spent the first three weeks of spring practice as UCLA’s presumed starting quarterback next season after putting up prolific numbers at Appalachian State. Iamaleava’s arrival could nudge Aguilar back into the transfer portal considering he only has one more season of eligibility left.
Aguilar did not let speculation about Iamaleava immediately alter his plans; he participated in the Bruins’ “Friday Night Lights” event as if nothing had changed about his preparation for next season.
The Bruins nearly added Nico’s younger brother, Madden, to their roster on signing day in December before the Long Beach Poly High quarterback and teammate Jace Brown backed out of their verbal commitments and signed with Arkansas. Nico’s decision to join the Bruins signals that whatever hard feelings emerged from his brother’s situation have been smoothed over between the team and the Iamaleava family.
UCLA had one strong ally in its pursuit of Nico Iamaleava because Stacey Ford, the team’s director of player personnel, was on the coaching staff at Warren High when the quarterback emerged as a star during the 2021 season. Iamaleava later reportedly signed a four-year, $8-million name, image and likeness contract with Spyre Sports Group, Tennessee’s name, image and likeness collective, with a six-figure payment while he was still in high school.
After playing sparingly in his first college season, the 6-foot-6, 215-pounder starred during a 2024 season in which he led the Volunteers to the playoff before they lost to eventual national champion Ohio State in the first round. Iamaleava completed 63.8% of his passes for 2,616 yards with 19 touchdowns and five interceptions, though critics pointed out that eight of those touchdowns came against lightly regarded Texas El Paso and Vanderbilt.
As part of a messy split with Tennessee that angered Volunteers fans, Iamaleava left before the team’s spring game. Acknowledging that he was moving on, Tennessee coach Josh Heupel told reporters that “there’s nobody bigger than the ‘Power T.”
Iamaleava’s chance to win over a new fan base starts in several months. UCLA will open the season against Utah on Aug. 30 at the Rose Bowl, its quarterback vying to become the local hero the Bruins have long needed to reclaim long-lost glory.
The post Former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava commits to UCLA appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
