Josh Heupel addresses departure of Nico Iamaleava after offseason workouts: 'It's never about who's not in your building'

The Tennessee Volunteers had one of the more tumultuous offseasons of any team in the country. Head coach Josh Heupel was forced to manage a massive NIL dispute with last season’s starting quarterback, Nico Iamaleava, which ended with him leaving the program in the Spring transfer portal window.

Heupel addressed Iamaleava’s departure at SEC Media Days. There, he emphasized that the program has looked to have a next-man-up philosophy through the departure, though he wanted to emphasize that it’s not unique to have that attitude for this situation.

“Ultimately, at the end of the day, it’s never about who’s not in your building,” Josh Heupel said. “It’s about who is in your building. For us, you can lose a quarterback at a lot of different times. December transfer portal, Spring transfer portal. You can lose one Week 1, first quarter of a ball game, in your open, and now you’re on to number two through injury. You’ve got to have a next guy up mentality. At the end of the day, having the right guys that want to be there, want to compete with their brothers that are inside of that locker room, building that connection, but also having the right guys in there.”

In a bit of an ironic move, Nico Iamaleava landed at UCLA. That forced Joey Aguilar into the transfer portal in his own right. He’d land in Knoxville, ready to compete for the starting job at Tennessee. He’ll be up against the likes of redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and freshman George MacIntyre.

“At the end of the day, I’m really excited about who we have in there. The addition of Joey to who was already inside of that group. Highly competitive guys that are smart,” Heupel said. “That have the physical traits to be successful. Teammates have grown to have great trust in those guys through the course of this offseason during the summer. Now, it’s about getting to training camp and going and competing. Somebody is going to earn the opportunity to be our starting quarterback through that process.”

As of now, Josh Heupel hasn’t announced a starting quarterback. Aguilar certainly has the most experience and appears to be a favorite. However, the job is still an open battle.

Josh Heupel offers update on Tennessee, plans for starting quarterback

At SEC Media Days, Josh Heupel did share a brief update on the quarterback battle. In particular, what the team’s plans are moving forward.

“We will have a competition at the quarterback position. Three guys inside of that room — really proud of what they’ve done. Joey [Aguilar] since he got there in May. [Jake] Merklinger and George MacIntyre — what those two guys have done since they’ve been on campus. But I’m really proud of the steps they’ve taken through the summer and how they’ve developed relationships and rapport with the guys around them. Their ability to compete in a positive way with each other in the meeting room and on the field. Their ability to have leadership traits and continue to grow in that,” Heupel said.

“I’m really excited to get on the field with those guys. We’ve found a way to win with different quarterbacks in my career on the offensive side of the ball and we’re gonna find a way to win with the guy that earns the starting spot as we go through training camp here in August.”