Urban Meyer offered a rather surprising take on quarterback Nico Iamaleava’s departure from the Tennessee Volunteers.
Meyer said on “The Triple Option” podcast that the Volunteers are “screwed” because of the Iamaleava situation.
“Here’s the reality of this: Tennessee is screwed. They got a problem,” Meyer said. “You lose a potential high draft pick. The backup quarterback left last year, and now you have a redshirt freshman that threw nine passes, and a freshman. You have zero experience. The portal opens as we speak. They’re going to have to go get one.
“Everybody’s saying, hey, nice job Tennessee, making a stand. I’ve got a little comment on that. Tennessee plays Florida usually every year in October. Can you imagine that game’s going the other way, and Josh Heupel grabs a microphone and stands on the 50-yard line in Neyland Stadium and says, ‘Hey, it’s okay, I made a stand way back when.’”
Many have praised Tennessee for refusing to give in to Iamaleava’s demands, and the player might actually lose money because of his move. Meyer takes a slightly different view. His point is essentially that Tennessee has been left without a quarterback. Their principled stand against Iamaleava’s NIL demands may look good now, but fans are likely to be less understanding if the quarterback cannot be replaced and the team loses games because of it.
Iamaleava has suggested there were other reasons beyond money behind his decision to transfer.
Redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and true freshman George MacIntyre are Tennessee’s two quarterback options at the moment. Meyer is correct that the Vols need to do something, but it is not clear where they might turn.
