"He’s not the villain": CFB analyst makes a bold case for Nico Iamaleava amid backlash from fans following Vols-UCLA saga

Following the whole Nico Iamaleava-Tennessee controversy, with the QB reportedly demanding around $4M in NIL and eventually getting dismissed from the team, Iamaleava faced a lot of criticism. Many people called him "greedy" and even applauded Tennessee and Josh Heupel for not caving to the QB's demands and sending a strong message.

After committing to UCLA and expressing his gratitude for the time he spent at Tennessee, college football analyst Max Brown weighed in on the backlash on Sunday:

"Nico is not the bad guy. The right question is, why are we all acting so surprised? This was always coming since the second Matthew Sluga at UNLV situation went down last fall. Nico is watching guys like Carson Beck get 4 million a year. Yes, it's a lot of money.

"I just think because of the timing of the fact that he was one of the first big high school recruits to be involved in NIL, he finds himself in this situation where he is the first holdout guy.

"Tennessee isn't innocent either. They outbid everyone to get him out of high school, and now they want to act shocked that he's looking for the next highest bidder."

Lane Kiffin defends Nico Iamaleava amid criticism from the CFB universe

The former Tennessee quarterback has been facing a lot of criticism from the college football world ever since Coach Heupel announced that Nico Iamaleava is no longer with the team.

While many look at it as a potential turning point in college football, possibly setting the grounds for new rules and regulations around NIL, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin also came forward to support Iamaleava. He asked fans not to judge him without knowing all the facts and the details of the situation, as the programs always have a bigger voice than the player in situations like these.

He even called the whole fiasco "unfair" toward Nico Iamaleava and shared that there are some rumors out there that are not accurate.