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Josh Heupel: Best to ‘rip the Band-Aid’ on Nico Iamaleava situation

IMG_0985by: Griffin McVeigh04/12/25griffin_mcveigh
Josh Heupel, Tennessee Football | Angelina Alcantar/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images
(Angelina Alcantar/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images) Oct 12, 2024; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel during a game against the Florida Gators at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Angelina Alcantar/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

In the span of around 48 hours, Nico Iamaleava went from a fan favorite in Knoxville to the topic of conversation for the wrong reasons. Iamaleava will leave Tennessee after the program decided to move on from him amid contract negotiations for a higher NIL deal. Josh Heupel will have to find someone else moving forward at quarterback.

Friday was when Heupel knew Iamaleava was not going to be a part of 2025’s team. Reports emerged of him skipping practice, just a day before Tennessee’s spring game. At that moment, Heupel decided it was best to “rip the Band-Aid” and move on.

“If it’s going to happen, rip the Band-Aid,” Heupel said. “At the end of the day, we got a lot of great work for the two guys that are here and we’ve got a chance to move forward as a program. It’s unfortunate, in the landscape of college football that this happens at this point… At the end of the day, this is the greatest team game there is.”

This process has rocked college sports, being something we have never seen. But Heupel believes he can still draw from experience. He likened the situation to losing a star player early in training camp due to an injury. Adversity strikes and a team has to adapt with the mindset of finding success moving forward.

Seeing a coach publicly upset due to a player demanding more money days before the NCAA transfer portal opened would not be too big of a surprise. Some of the sport’s most prominent coaches have spoken on the modern times at length.

Instead, Heupel is attempting to keep a “cool head” with what has unfolded in the past few days. He might be hoping the same mindset flows through everyone else inside the program.

“At the end of the day, in a leadership position, you have standards of who you’ve got to be inside the building and outside of it,” Heupel said. “At the same time, every individual is a little bit different. In leadership, I’ve tried to keep a cool head and also understand the dynamics of all situations. Family and everything.”

Two quarterbacks are now on the roster for Tennessee: Jake Merklinger and George MacIntyre. On3’s Pete Nakos laid out options at the position moving forward after Iamaleava’s departure. Safe to say, there is still some work for Heupel to do in an attempt to figure how who will take Aug. 30’s first snap against Syracuse.