College Football

Tennessee transfer quarterback Nico Iamaleava is reportedly drawing some interest before the portal opens on Wednesday, but it's contingent on lowering his price range.

According to Pete Nakos of On3.com, "multiple teams" are waiting to see if Iamaleava drops his NIL demands closer to $1 million in the coming days.

Per ESPN's Dan Wetzel, Iamaleava agreed to a four-year deal worth approximately $8 million with Tennessee's NIL collective in the spring of 2022 when he was a high school junior. He would've made $2.2 million in the final year of his deal this season, but he "reportedly wanted some $4 million that was commensurate with what other quarterbacks who transferred this year were getting."

Nakos noted that "multiple programs are ready to become contenders if he is open to a deal closer to $1 million." UCLA reportedly has been "tied to Iamaleava since news broke of his departure last week." North Carolina would've been considered a landing spot ahead of legendary head coach Bill Belichick's first season, but Nakos stated that the Tar Heels are "viewed as the favorite to land South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez" and "out of the mix for Iamaleava."

Tulane was named as "another program that could be open to" landing Iamaleava, though Nakos reported Tuesday that the Green Wave have dropped out of the sweepstakes to land him.

Iamaleava started all 13 games for the Vols in 2024 and threw for 2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns and five interceptions while adding 358 rushing yards and three more scores while helping to lead the team to its first appearance in the College Football Playoff.

The drama surrounding quarterback Nico Iamaleava's exit from Tennessee hasn't gone unnoticed by NFL talent evaluators, according to The Athletic's Dianna Russini.

Iamaleava intends to enter the transfer portal following an NIL dispute with the Vols. It's by far the biggest contractual quarrel involving a player during the NIL era.

Russini said Tuesday on her Scoop City podcast that "there was a lot of reaction" to the news within the NFL.

"Turning down more money to stay tells something to teams versus making it about you and making yourself bigger than the team," the NFL insider said. "Whether you like that or not, that is the reality. NFL teams are watching that."

Russini added that NFL personnel are "talking about this now on these draft prospect visits." She cited one player who told a team he turned down a more lucrative endorsement package because he felt a sense of loyalty to his teammates at his current school.

At the end of the day, Iamaleava's situation isn't that uncommon in pro sports. Holdouts or protracted contract negotiations happen every offseason, and they're especially prevalent in the NFL since football players are incentivized to get as much money as they can early in their career.

Absent a more structured system around NIL deals, this may not be the last time a star player leaves unexpectedly for more money, either.

If Iamaleava is good enough, the NIL dispute may factor little in his overall draft evaluation.

Remember when some of Jayden Daniels' former teammates at Arizona State basically ransacked his locker after he entered the portal? You may not because Daniels went on to win a Heisman Trophy at LSU and get picked second overall in the 2024 NFL draft.

Should Iamaleava go on to put up big numbers at his next stop, the circumstances leading up to his departure from Knoxville, Tennessee, probably won't preclude him from being a first-round pick.

One month after North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick requested members of his staff to include his girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, on any emails being sent to him, details about her role with the football program have come to light.

Citing an open records request, The Athletic's Matt Baker obtained 44 pages of emails featuring correspondence from Hudson to members of the Tar Heels' staff.

Baker described most of the emails involving Hudson as "mundane" and her involvement as "minimal," though she did write to the school's social media team on Dec. 22 about promoting Bill's son, Steve Belichick, "as his own established, credible entity" before it was announced he was being hired as North Carolina's defensive coordinator:

"Though Steve Belichick is in fact Bill’s son, he should be depicted and represented as his own established, credible entity as opposed to an extension of Bill. It can be easily misinterpreted that Steve is simply benefitting from nepotism but that is not the case. Steve was fortunate to have learned defensive football strategy from the ‘greatest defensive mind’ of all-time. He has earned his position due to his performance and output."

Bill Belichick finalized his coaching staff in March, with Steve listed as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Brian Belichick, Bill's youngest son, is coaching the defensive backs and safeties. Baker noted Brian wasn't mentioned in any of the emails.

Hudson also noted in her email that Steve "has the experience of being a COLLEGE defensive coordinator and will bring a plethora of knowledge to the coaching staff" and that emphasizing his resume would "prevent controversy" and "validate" Bill's decision to hire him.

On March 13, TheAssemblyNC.com's Matt Hartman posted a copy of an email Bill Belichick sent to his staff asking them to include Hudson on any correspondence being sent to him.

Even though Baker wrote Hudson doesn't have a contract or any sort of employment agreement with the university, he did point out there appears to be some sort of professional involvement with Belichick because her "email signature identifies her as the chief operating officer of Belichick Productions."

Hudson is cited as the manager of Trouble Cub Enterprises LLC and other entities that include a "multi-platform media project" (Chapel Bill LLC); production and merchandising group for something called "The All-Belichick Team" (All BB Team LLC); and a video podcast production firm (Coach Show LLC).

CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones reported that North Carolina's football program maintained a desire to do "some sort of all-access, behind-the-scenes series" after a deal with NFL Films for a Hard Knocks series fell apart.

It's unclear if Belichick Productions and/or Trouble Cub Enterprises LLC would have any involvement with the series should it come together.

Belichick is returning to coaching in 2025 at North Carolina after sitting out last season following his departure from the New England Patriots. This will mark his first time coaching at the college level after 49 seasons in the NFL from 1975 to '23.

No. 2 and No. 12 will never be worn by another Colorado Buffalo, as Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter's jerseys are set to be retired during the team's spring game on Saturday.

Sanders and Hunter are set to enter the NFL Draft, which begins on April 24 and runs through April 26.

Sanders played two seasons at Colorado under his father and head coach, Deion Sanders. In his senior season, he threw for 4,134 yards, ranking fourth in the NCAA, and 37 touchdowns, which placed him second in the nation.

Hunter also spent two seasons with the Buffaloes, capping off his collegiate career as the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner. In his junior season, the two-way player recorded 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns, along with 24 solo tackles, 11 passes defended and four interceptions.

Hunter and Sanders will become just the fifth and sixth players to have their jerseys retired in Colorado program history. They will join an exclusive group that includes quarterback/halfback Byron White, linebacker/guard Joe Romig, quarterback/tailback Bobby Anderson and running back Rashaan Salaam.

In the latest NFL mock draft by the Bleacher Report Scouting Department, Hunter is projected to go third overall to the New York Giants, while Sanders is slated to be selected second overall by the Cleveland Browns.

The college football world is still waiting to see where quarterback Nico Iamaleava lands after leaving Tennessee, and it reportedly will not be North Carolina.

Pete Nakos of On3 reported Monday that Bill Belichick's program "is out of the mix" for Iamaleava and is instead targeting South Alabama quarterback Gio Lopez.

There was some speculation Iamaleava might end up with the Tar Heels when he received a crystal ball prediction to join Belichick in Chapel Hill on 247Sports. However, it seems like such a pairing will not end up happening ahead of the 2025 campaign.

Iamaleava figures to be one of the biggest names in the spring transfer portal after his high-profile exit from the Volunteers program.

Nakos reported Thursday that the quarterback and Tennessee were undergoing "active negotiations" for a potential new NIL deal for the 2025 season after he helped lead the SEC team to the College Football Playoff in 2024.

Yet a new deal never materialized, and ESPN's Pete Thamel reported Saturday the program was "moving on" without him after he missed a practice.

"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 completed 63.8 percent of his passes for 2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns and five interceptions while adding 358 yards and three scores as a runner last season. He led the Volunteers to wins over Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma and NC State, although he struggled in the team's CFP loss to the eventual national champions at Ohio State.

The 5-star prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, per 247Sports' composite rankings, still has plenty of potential and could be one of the best quarterbacks in the country depending on his landing spot next season.

But it won't be with the Tar Heels as they begin their own new era with Belichick running the show.

Nico Iamaleava is on his way out of Tennessee after failed contract negotiations led to the Vols moving on from the quarterback.

Iamaleava was already one of the highest-paid players in college sports as he was reportedly expected to make $2.4 million in 2025, but he wanted more from the Vols and didn't get it.

According to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, the young quarterback was "a victim of taking bad advice." Breer also reported that staffers around the NFL and college football think Iamaleava's family "perhaps focused too much on what they can collectively make now, and not on what’s coming."

Iamaleava, who took over as Tennessee's starter last year, had a decent first year with 2,616 passing yards, 19 touchdowns and five interceptions, which was enough to take the Vols to the College Football Playoffs.

The 20-year-old was presumably set to make a leap in 2025 and perhaps be ready for the NFL draft next year, but now his future is a bit more uncertain.

With spring practices already underway, most top teams already have their starting quarterback for the 2025 season and will likely pass on Iamaleava—or at least pass on giving him the kind of money he was seeking from Tennessee.

That could lead to Iamaleava landing a less sought-after role than that which he had with the Vols, and he'll almost certainly not command as much NIL money wherever he lands.

Things could work better for Iamaleava than they would have had he stayed at Tennessee, but for now, it's hard to describe his approach as anything other than confusing.

During Ohio State's visit to the White House in celebration of the team's national championship victory, the College Football Playoff title trophy fell apart as Vice President JD Vance attempted to lift it:

The Buckeyes went 14-2 in 2024 and defeated Notre Dame 34-23 in the CFP national championship game. All four of their wins in the College Football Playoff came by double digits.

Ohio State awarded its players their championship rings during the spring game this past weekend.

"They're champions. So yeah, it puts a smile on your face when you see it," head coach Ryan Day said, per the Associated Press.

The Buckeyes will begin the defense of their national title with a marquee season opener against Texas on Aug. 30.

The inevitable has arrived. The lawless, structureless, complicated universe of college football in the NIL era has produced its first—and certainly not last—high-profile breakup.

Perhaps the only surprise is that it took this long for turmoil to arise. Now, one can only hope that actual change is coming next.

For Tennessee, that turmoil has come and gone. The team's starting quarterback from a season ago, Nico Iamaleava, one of the biggest recruits this program has ever produced, is gone. Just like that.

The details surrounding the breakup may vary depending on the source, which is typical surrounding messy separations. Regardless of how we arrived here, the Vols made the news official Saturday as the program’s spring game loomed.

"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," Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said. "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."

The rumors of missed meetings, unfulfilled NIL obligations and other dirt that often materializes in these situations has surfaced since the news went public. Make no mistake about it, however: This decision comes down to money. Well, and leverage.

Iamaleava was reportedly scheduled to make $2.4 million this season, and his representation was looking for more.

In his first year as the program’s starting QB, Iamaleava threw for 2,616 yards and accounted for 22 touchdowns. While his game-to-game performance was often up and down, he led Tennessee to the College Football Playoff.

When backed into a corner, Tennessee, which has the resources to meet Iamaleava’s reported demands of $4 million, decided to end the relationship there. And in doing so both suddenly and emphatically, perhaps the universities will gain some influence for the first time in quite a while.

"This program has been around for a long time," Heupel added. "There are a lot of great coaches, a lot of great players who 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 gone and after they're gone."

Years ago, before paying players was legal, “bag men” were the true market-movers.  The drama between a player, his family and the school would be handled behind closed doors.

No one benefited from these disagreements going public. The stakes for both the athletes and schools were too high. Thus, any issues, no matter the source, were largely kept under wraps.

But now?

It’s all very public. It’s all very messy.

Although up until now, players (and their representatives) have found a way to make it work with schools through both recruiting and the transfer portal. Coaches have bemoaned the process every step of the way, seemingly begging for help, and it’s hard not to see why.

With rosters turning over each and every year—multiple times a year—the only constant currently blanketing college athletics is that of self-indulgence and change.

Tennessee’s situation in itself should represent the desperate need for something more. There is now real, tangible evidence of just how warped this universe has become, even if we knew this long before things turned.

Whether you commend Tennessee for holding firm or not seems almost unimportant. Regardless of what side you choose, neither Tennessee nor Iamaleava should have been put in the position to blow up this arrangement to begin with.

There must be structure. There must be rules. There must be a protocol to pay players and keep players on the roster, without seeing the sport swallow itself whole in the transfer portal every year.

The players must be protected. The schools must be protected. The sport must be given more tools to maintain integrity across conferences, unifying in a way it simply hasn’t cared to approach.

This isn’t an Iamaleava problem, whether you agree with the negotiating tactics or not. This is a product of creating an unstable environment and choosing to do nothing about it.

Even larger, this is what happens when a fractured sport consumed by wealth finds itself in a state of paralysis time and time again.

Institutions are in for revenue—through television dollars or enrollment benefits. Conferences are looking out for their members, in constant search of income streams, playoff access and other methods of profitability.

Players undoubtedly care about general fit, coaching staff and classic program attributes, but the dollars now speak loudest of all. And the NCAA, once a roadblock to change, is now largely along for the ride after various courtrooms deconstructed its rulebook over the past decade.

So, who is looking out for the sport as a whole?

The answer, quite simply, is no one. We’ve batted around the idea of a commissioner for some while. Heck, Nick Saban’s name has been floated a time or two since he retired from the sideline.

But like most things surrounding college football, the best ideas often take a while to materialize. Some never truly do.

If there’s anything that can come from this nastiness, it’s a hope for change. It’s a hope that teams, conferences and perhaps even the government can align to produce a system that still allows for players to be compensated in more direct and understandable ways.

And that’s not all. The transfer portal, which serves as the gasoline to this colossal dumpster fire, needs an overhaul. From the rules to the tampering to the dates that the portal opens, a change that needs to be revisited most of all, must be reexamined.

We’ve seen now what a structureless world can produce. We’ve heard from those operating in this world and how much they detest it.

It’s not the money; it’s the inability to create a stable landscape. It’s a world that needs immense repairs, although no one quite knows where to begin.

Tennessee, in a way, has changed the conversation in one weekend. A major football program has shown as publicly and emphatically as it possibly can that this cannot be the standard.

This has to be the turning point. The thing that was always going to happen with sanity and structure sitting this out has happened. Now, once and for all, through whatever means necessary, it must change. 

Buckle up because it could be a bumpy couple of weeks in the college football world.

"It will be a real s--tstorm," a power conference athletic director said in a Sunday story by Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports when discussing the upcoming opening of the transfer portal and negotiations about the eventual House settlement that could open the door for revenue sharing with athletes.

The 10-day portal opens Wednesday, and Dellenger noted the sport could be in "for a potential spending spree" since the settlement hasn't yet been approved to create some type of financial guidelines. 

One athletic director estimated this portal could lead to more than "$50 million" in compensation to players.

Last Wednesday, a group of athletic directors, university presidents and coaches gathered in the nation's capital to lobby for a federal college sports bill that could address roster structures, a $20 million-plus annual budget to share with athletes and more.

The House settlement defendants (NCAA and power conferences) and plaintiffs (representatives for athletes suing for compensation) are scheduled to file briefs Monday. California judge Claudia Wilken is presiding over the case and will ultimately approve or disapprove of the settlement.

All of this comes as quarterback Nico Iamaleava and Tennessee made headlines for something of a standoff that will see the signal-caller enter the transfer portal, per Dellenger.

Pete Nakos of On3 reported Thursday that Iamaleava and Tennessee were undergoing "active negotiations" for a potential new NIL deal for the 2025 campaign. However, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported Saturday that the Volunteers are "moving on" after he didn't attend practice.

It could simply be an isolated incident where a program and player couldn't come to terms on an agreement. Or it might be a sign of things to come where players assume more negotiating tactics like their professional counterparts might in similar scenarios.

Regardless, there won't be many official guidelines until the settlement is finalized, and the sport will once again be under the spotlight during the coming week with the opening of the portal looming.

Fox Sports reportedly made an "all-out effort" to pry College GameDay host Rece Davis away from ESPN, according to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, but Davis is staying up.

Per that report, "Davis has agreed to a new seven-year deal for tens of millions of dollars, according to sources briefed on the deal. The exact terms are unknown, but Davis accepted a slight hometown discount to remain at ESPN that will guarantee him lead hosting duties through the rest of the network’s College Football Playoff deal that runs until 2031-32."

Fox planned on making Davis the host of Big Noon Kickoff and "one of the faces of its networks" before he made the decision to remain at ESPN, according to Marchand's report. He would have also hosted the 2026 World Cup and taken part in college basketball broadcasts.

The 59-year-old has been with ESPN for the past three decades and stayed out of what has been a whirlwind of media changes and failed overtures in college football broadcasting of late.

CBS plans to move Charles Davis from the NFL to Big Ten broadcasts, replacing longtime analyst Gary Danielson, who will broadcast one final season in 2025. Marchand reported that CBS attempted to lure NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky away from ESPN, though he rejected the approach despite currently not having a new deal in place with ESPN.

Fox previously pried Tom Rinaldi and Fallica away from College GameDay but lost out to ESPN in the chase for Nick Saban after he retired from coaching.

College GameDay seemingly has the edge on Big Noon Kickoff in the ratings department.

In November, Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News reported that "GameDay is averaging 2.2 million viewers, according to ESPN—an eight percent year-over-year increase that puts the show on pace for its best season ever. (The first on-campus broadcast was in 1993). Fox doesn’t typically release ratings for Big Noon Kickoff, which is, well, telling."