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Former Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Harrison Bailey gave a blunt reaction to Nico Iamaleava leaving the Vols and entering the transfer portal.
Iamaleava held out of practice and the spring game as he looked to get more NIL money from the Volunteers. Tennessee ended up deciding to move on from him, and Bailey, who is now at Florida, wasn't shocked that the quarterback pulled that move.
"I didn't even know until some of the Gators fans were running up to me telling me. It doesn't surprise. I don't really know," Bailey said. "It's a tricky (situation). I met Nico before and I know how Coach Heupel and the group is, they're all great people. Maybe the situation just wasn't right, the timing, just parted ways.
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"When I first entered college, there was no such thing as the portal. I don't know, it's a new age in football. I'm glad I'm getting out of it. It's helped me a lot, I would say."
Bailey says he wasn't surprised Iamaleava did that, before stopping himself and making a more politically correct answer.
Bailey was at Tennessee in 2020 and 2021 before transferring to UNLV for one year, then to Louisville for two years, and is now at Florida.
Tennessee coach explains decision to move on from Nico Iamaleava
After Nico Iamaleava held out of practice and the spring game, Volunteers coach Josh Heupel explained his decision to move on from the quarterback.
Heupel says no player is bigger than the program, and that was made clear by the decision to move on from Iamaleava.
"This program has been around for a long time," Heupel said, via ESPN. "There are a lot of great coaches, a lot of great players who came before that laid the cornerstone pieces, the legacy, the tradition that is Tennessee football. It's going to be around a long time after I'm gone and after they're gone...
"Obviously, we're moving forward as a program without him. I said it to the guys today. There's no one that's bigger than the Power T. That includes me."
Tennessee will now likely look to add another quarterback in the transfer portal to help replace Iamaleava.
The Volunteers will open their 2025 college football season on August 30 against Syracuse.
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