The last year and a half have been a whirlwind for Nico Iamaleava.
The former five-star quarterback went from leading the Tennessee Volunteers to their first College Football Playoff appearance in 2024 to departing from the program prior to spring practices with NIL believed to be a major factor. He eventually landed with the UCLA Bruins, immediately stepping in as the starter ahead of the 2025 campaign.
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But then the Bruins turned in a season that couldn’t have been more of a disaster.
They started 0-4, leading to the firing of head coach DeShaun Foster, before upsetting the then-No. 7 Penn State Nittany Lions in a thrilling game, followed by two more victories. Sitting at 3-4, the season appeared to have taken a turn for the better under interim head coach Tim Skipper and wunderkind offensive coordinator Jerry Neuheisel. But then the Bruins lost five straight games to finish the season, ending a 3-9 campaign with a 19-point loss to their crosstown rival USC Trojans.
It was quite the plummet for Iamaleava: from leading Tennessee to the CFP to playing meaningless football throughout October and November. He had a down year himself, completing 64.4% of his passes for less than 2,000 yards to go along with 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Despite that, newly-hired head coach Bob Chesney, who is coming off a season in which he led the James Madison Dukes to the CFP, praised Iamaleava for his efforts last season without a ton of talent around him.
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“What he does on the field speaks for itself,” Chesney told On3. “He was under quite a bit of duress last year. He had some weapons, not a ton, and really found himself in a spot where he had to create a lot of things after the play with his legs. He did a decent job of that as the year went on, and he took some hits, he got himself back up and went right back in that game.”
Due to a lacking offensive line and running game, the former five-star dual-threat prospect had to create much more with his legs than he’d done before, as he ran for a career-high 505 yards and four touchdowns. Iamaleava often had to scramble out of the pocket, abandoning the outlines of the play due to a teammate’s missed assignment.
It’s easy to see the talent that Iamaleava holds. After all, he was the No. 2 quarterback recruit in the 2023 class and emerged as a redshirt freshman at Tennessee. But in order for him to bring UCLA back to relevance and competing in the Big Ten, it will take the intangibles, such as leadership — something that Chesney has seen out of Iamaleava in his short time with the program.
“What’s impressed me in my short period of time here is that at the beginning, it was a feeling-out stage of exactly who can I trust?” Chesney said. “I’ve watched him move to the front of the line now and just command a room and hold people accountable. Things that all great quarterbacks and leaders do. I’m extremely, extremely impressed with him as a young man.”
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This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: UCLA Football: Nico Iamaleava praised by coach Bob Chesney
