DeShaun Foster raves about getting 'playoff quarterback' in Nico Iamaleava

UCLA made one of the splash moves of the offseason when it acquired quarterback Nico Iamaleava from Tennessee. Iamaleava had come to an impasse on his NIL compensation with the Volunteers, and the Bruins were fully ready to take advantage.

On Thursday at Big Ten Media Days, head coach DeShaun Foster provided the rationale behind scooping up the talented quarterback. Even given the NIL angle, it was a no-brainer for the Bruins.

“Just the arm strength is just something that you see off, just from watching him play at all,” Foster said. “But he’s just a talent. It’s not anything that I saw him do last season. It’s more of what I’d seen him do all the way up.”

Nico Iamaleava was one of the top-rated recruits in the country a few years back, to the point that he was commanding a huge NIL figure. Of course, that came to a head this offseason at Tennessee.

After leading the Volunteers to a College Football Playoff berth, Nico Iamaleava was reportedly unhappy with his NIL package. He upped and left for UCLA.

But Foster was familiar with the talented Long Beach, Calif., gunslinger long before he entered the transfer portal. It was that familiarity that helped UCLA gain the upper hand in his transfer recruitment.

“Him being a local quarterback I’d seen him play a few times,” Foster said. “And he’s played with a lot of players that are on our team, so there’s a lot of familiarity there.”

Now, UCLA will be hoping Nico Iamaleava can produce like he did at Tennessee. Despite not being asked to do a whole lot — Tennessee had SEC Offensive Player of the Year Dylan Sampson in the backfield in 2024 — Iamaleava was productive.

He threw for 2,616 yards and 19 touchdowns, against five interceptions. He also ran for 358 yards and three scores.

“We’re just excited to have a playoff quarterback,” Foster said. “Somebody that was able to lead his team to the playoffs. They might not have got the outcome that they wanted, but he still was able to play and he showed how tough he was in that game. Just being able to come back home and be in a familiar environment, I think sky is the limit. So we’re excited about this.”