This is an opinion column.
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Tennessee didn’t want to pay Nico Iamaleava for what the quarterback was worth.
Despite most everything you’ve heard or read, it was an enormous mistake by the Volunteers to let Iamaleava walk. He’s a good quarterback with playoff experience, a returning starter in the SEC who knew the Vols’ system and a player who teammates respected. Iamaleava helped put Tennessee into the playoffs last season and take down one rival after another. What more could Tennessee possibly ask for out of an underclassman?
And yet the Vols refused to pony up.
Why?
Pride, or was it something else?
General managers around college football should ask themselves a simple question to know whether or not Tennessee should have answered Iamaleava’s contract demands. Is Iamaleava better than Arch Manning at Texas? Based on everything we’ve seen so far, the answer is yes. But Tennessee would have wired Manning $6 million in a second if he wanted to transfer, according to inbox.
I enjoyed my emails last week from Tennessee fans. Waving so long to Iamaleava apparently wasn’t about the money after all. Here’s an example of my inbox this week after my first column on Tennessee’s springtime gaffe.
From proud Volunteer Sarah B. …
The University of Tennessee could have easily found the money to pay Nico Iamaleava, but it chose to not to be blackmailed by a 20-year-old mediocre quarterback. I have read about this extensively over the last couple of days and your opinion is the only one I’ve seen that portrays the university’s actions in a negative light. Once again, the real UT is leading the charge on the insanity that has become college football and other programs are going to thank them for it.
Never have I been more proud of my university and football program. Our record may suffer this fall, but the Vol Nation stands in solidarity that this was the right decision to make. It was a matter of principle, not being “too poor.”
Great email, but groupthink is a funny thing. If enough people convince themselves that a bad decision is for the best, then pretty soon things like crippling Canada’s economy for not wanting to be a U.S. state is genius-level statecraft.
But let’s not forget that Tennessee is the same fanbase that once lost its collective mind and fired an athletics director over wanting to hire Mike Leach as a football coach.
Tennessee convinced themselves it was making a good decision, hired Phillip Fulmer and then was stuck with no better option for head football coach than Jeremy Pruitt.
Y’all, I’m sensing a pattern.
And that’s nothing against Pruitt, of course. Pruitt was ahead of his time when it came to building a roster. No doubt the Sand Mountain Magician would have found some money in a hat to pay the best returning quarterback in the SEC not at Vanderbilt.
Diego Pavia wanted a raise, by the way, and the Commodores were happy to do it. But Tennessee? Too proud.
Tennessee and its advocates like Paul Finebaum want everyone to believe that the Volunteers are taking some kind of noble stand for its locker room and all of college football, but that’s nonsense. Don’t listen to talking heads trying to curry favor, and especially the ones working for the SEC Network. Tennessee is not helping the future of college football by disrespecting Iamaleava. The guys in the locker room know the deal. Get what you can when you can. The logo on the front of the jersey doesn’t matter as much as the name on the back when millions of dollars are in the balance.
That’s not greed. That’s just smart business and human nature.
Now Tennessee spent all that money on its offense and it doesn’t have a decent quarterback to run it. If we’re being completely honest, then every offensive player on Tennessee’s two-deep should consider transferring during the current portal window. Why play for a team that doesn’t back their quarterback?
If Tennessee wants to win games in the SEC, then they need to pay a premium for the best players.
We watched two SEC contenders go cheap before the 2024 season. It cost them both victories and, for one contender, maybe even a spot in the College Football Playoff.
In the case of Auburn, coach Hugh Freeze thought $1 million was too much for a quarterback out of the transfer portal. He went with Payton Thorne, and Thorne was worth five wins. It was a mistake, but Freeze learned his lesson. He dropped the bag for Jackson Arnold at Oklahoma, who wasn’t spectacular last season but did enough to thump Alabama on the forehead.
Then there was Ole Miss. The Rebs were last year’s Tennessee. Too proud to pay up.
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin and his well-heeled boosters didn’t want to negotiate a new contract with running back Quinshon Judkins. They labeled Judkins greedy and said they’d be better off without the best returning running back in the SEC.
They were wrong.
The three highest paid quarterbacks in the SEC last season, according to sources familiar with roster management in the league, were Iamaleava, Jaxson Dart at Ole Miss and Carson Beck at Georgia. Ole Miss decided to go cheap at running back and it cost them.
Judkins went to Ohio State and won the Buckeyes a national championship. Ole Miss was left crying about strength of schedule after losing to Kentucky, LSU and Florida. With Judkins, Ole Miss likely would have won the SEC.
Judkins wanted to be paid what he was worth. How is his situation any different than Iamaleava? No one is questioning Iamaleava’s work ethic. No one denies that Iamaleava is a great teammate.
I’m not saying Tennessee is racist for refusing to pay Iamaleava what he wanted, but there’s a reason all the football coaches in the SEC are white. It’s because the big boosters are more willing to pay market value for white coaches.
Is it now the same with high-end players, too?
Because there’s no doubt Tennessee’s quarterback would be making $4 million-plus for the Vols this season if he were a Manning.
BE HEARD
Got a question for Joe? Want to get something off your chest? Send Joe an email about what’s on your mind. Let your voice be heard. Ask him anything.
Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of the book “We Want Bama: A Season of Hope and the Making of Nick Saban’s Ultimate Team.”
