Inside the months-long saga that led to Nico Iamaleava's shocking Tennessee transfer

FOUR MONTHS BEFORE Nico Iamaleava shocked the college football world by leaving Tennessee for UCLA, signs of his discontent were apparent.

On Dec. 28, hours before the winter transfer portal window closed, Tennessee sources say Iamaleava's representatives, including his father, Nic, reached out to the Tennessee NIL collective, Spyre Sports Group. They wanted to increase Iamaleava's pay for 2025 to around $4 million, getting him closer to the amount eventually procured by transfer quarterbacks Carson Beck (Miami) and Darian Mensah (Duk...