College Football

The Nico Iamaleava saga has reportedly reached its conclusion, or at least the part where he picks his next team.

Bruce Feldman and David Ubben of The Athletic reported Wednesday that the Tennessee transfer is "expected" to join UCLA for the 2025 season. This comes after the quarterback entered the transfer portal with a "do not contact" label "after attempts to rework his contract with a Tennessee name, image and likeness (NIL) collective went public last week."

However, ESPN's Chris Low reported that UCLA is interested in Iamaleava "but not for nearly the money he was asking for from Tennessee." The Bruins are content to "sit tight" while the quarterback considers his options, a source told Low.

"We'll see if it gets worked out. He's extremely talented with starting experience against elite competition. That's sort of where we are right now," a UCLA source told ESPN.

Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports also reported on the situation Wednesday and noted Iamaleava's family stressed the decision was not about the money but instead concerns about Tennessee's offense:

According to Feldman and Ubben, he signed an NIL deal with Tennessee's collective shortly after he committed to the SEC program in 2022. That deal paid him more than $8 million over the course of four years.

However, his representatives reportedly sought a raise to approximately $4 million for the upcoming season, which Tennessee declined.

Things took another turn when Iamaleava missed a practice one day before the Volunteers' spring game, and his time with the program is now over.

"Man, listen, it's the state of college football," Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said on The Vol Network radio broadcast (h/t Grant Ramey of On3). "At the end of the day, no one is ever bigger than the program. That includes me, too. We've got an opportunity. We've got a bunch of guys that will give their all for Tennessee.

"We move forward. Got a great group. Let's go compete."

Iamaleava joins a UCLA program looking to bounce back from a 5-7 effort in 2024, which was its first season in the Big Ten. It was a step back for a team that went a combined 25-13 the previous three years when it was a member of the Pac-12, but it will now have a talented signal-caller with plenty of potential.

After all, Iamaleava was a 5-star prospect and the No. 2 quarterback in the 2023 recruiting class, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

He led the Volunteers to the College Football Playoff last season with notable wins over Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma and NC State while completing 63.8 percent of his passes for 2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns and five interceptions. He also added 358 yards and three touchdowns as a runner.

Tennessee's time in the CFP was short-lived, though, as it lost 42-17 to the eventual national champions at Ohio State.

Iamaleava struggled in that game but will have a chance at revenge by joining the Bruins since they travel to face the Buckeyes in November. UCLA also faces Utah, Penn State, Indiana and USC during the upcoming season, so it will need its new quarterback to play up to his potential to be competitive in the Big Ten.

Kennedy Urlacher, son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher, is exploring leaving Notre Dame after one season.

Urlacher told Hayes Fawcett of On3.com he is entering the transfer portal.

A 3-star safety recruit out of Chandler High School in 2024, Urlacher committed to Notre Dame in December 2023. He appeared in 14 of the Fighting Irish's 16 games last season.

Griffin McVeigh of On3.com noted Kansas State, Miami, Illinois, Penn State and TCU were among the schools Urlacher was considering last year before deciding on Notre Dame.

Urlacher's decision to enter the transfer portal comes as a bit of a surprise given how highly Brian spoke about Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman during the team's run to the College Football Playoff Championship Game in January.

Playing time may have been difficult to come by for Urlacher in a deep Notre Dame secondary going into next season. The group added graduate transfers Jalen Stroman from Virginia Tech and DeVonta Smith from Alabama during the winter transfer window.

The Irish are also bringing back Adon Shuler and Luke Talich. Shuler ranked fourth on the team in combined tackles (59) and tied for second in interceptions (three).

Urlacher recorded 12 combined tackles and one pass breakup as a true freshman last season.

Wednesday marked the first day of the spring transfer window. The window is open through April 25, but as long as a player has officially entered the portal by that date, they can sign with another school at any point.

More details have emerged about quarterback Nico Iamaleava's departure from Tennessee, and there is a dispute over what caused his exit.

While reports have stated that Iamaleava was seeking an increase in his NIL deal from $2.2 million to $4 million, Amanda Christovich of Front Office Sports spoke to a "close family friend" of Iamaleava's father, Nic, who denied claims that Iamaleava pushed for more NIL money.

"The narrative was bulls--t," the friend told Christovich, who noted that other sources "dispute these claims."

Iamaleava officially entered the transfer portal on Wednesday after starting all 13 games for Tennessee and leading the Vols to their first appearance in the College Football Playoff. ESPN's Dan Wetzel recently reported that he would've been paid approximately $2.2 million in the final year of the NIL deal he signed with Tennessee as a high school junior, but he "reportedly wanted some $4 million that was commensurate with what other quarterbacks who transferred this year were getting."

Nic Iamaleava represents his son in negotiations along with California-based coach Cordell Landers and at least one lawyer, though Christovich pointed out that none of them are considered certified agents. Industry experts told Christovich that this situation is "the latest example of how, in the era of unrestricted free agency, a player’s career can be damaged by bad representation." However, Iamaleava's camp doesn't feel the same way.

"His representation hasn’t steered him wrong," the family friend, who declined to be identified by name, told Christovich. "At the end of the day, what did we do wrong to steer him and put him in a bad situation? We didn’t."

The family friend explained that the disconnect between Iamaleava and Tennessee dated back to the end of the team's season after its CFP loss in December. Iamaleava's representatives met with Vols head coach Josh Heupel and explained that improvements need to be made to the roster if he were to stay with the program, especially considering that he suffered multiple concussions throughout the 2024 campaign.

"Big Nic said, 'We want you guys to reassure us that you’re going to recruit and get the O-line right, that you’re going to go out there and you’re going to get receivers,'" the friend said, denying that those conversations had anything to do with money.

However, Christovich reported that "a different source with knowledge of those conversations says that Iamaleava’s camp did ask [Tennessee's NIL collective] Spyre Sports for a raise at the time—and that the collective made multiple counteroffers." Iamaleava’s camp "became increasingly unresponsive," and multiple meetings between the signal-caller and the coaching staff didn't provide clarity as to whether he intended to transfer. Things came to a head when Iamaleava skipped the annual spring game, prompting the Vols to "move on" from him.

"“I want to thank him for everything he’s done since he’s gotten here, as a recruit and who he was as a player and how he competed inside the building," Heupel said after the spring game. "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. That includes me."

Pete Nakos of On3.com reported that Iamaleava entered the transfer portal with a "do not contact" tag, suggesting that he's already made his decision on his next destination.

On the day the spring transfer window opens, Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava has entered the portal.

Per Pete Nakos of On3.com, Iamaleava put his name in the portal with a do not contact tag.

The move has been expected after Iamaleava's relationship with the Tennessee football program seemed to deteriorate last week.

Nakos reported on April 10 that Iamaleava was negotiating a new deal with the Volunteers' NIL collective. The two sides couldn't agree to terms ahead of their spring practice on Friday, resulting in the third-year quarterback skipping the event.

ESPN's Pete Thamel reported on Saturday that Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel informed the team they were "moving on" from Iamaleava, who submitted his paperwork to the school to enter the transfer portal.

The NIL money figures to play a big role in where Iamaleava lands. He was seeking $4 million on a new deal from Tennessee, but Thamel and Max Olson noted he will be "seeking much more" than that through the transfer portal.

There's skepticism Iamaleava will be able to land the type of deal he's looking. One general manager at a Power 4 school told Thamel and Olson they believe he has "zero market" right now.

Thamel and Olson also reported that marquee programs with unsettled quarterback situations for next season like USC, Notre Dame and North Carolina not showing "significant interest" in Iamaleava at this point.

Another potential stumbling block for Iamaleava's camp is most programs have already their quarterback salaries structured for the 2025 season, per Thamel.

A "do not contact" tag for a player in the transfer portal essentially means the player's camp will do the negotiating work with specific programs and coaches can't get in touch with him or his representatives on their timeframe.

Iamaleava will have just over a week to find a new school. The spring transfer window closes on April 25.

A 5-star prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, Iamaleava threw for 2,616 yards and 19 touchdowns last season for the Vols.