"He said a bunch of nothing": Fans gets candid about Brian Kelly's reaction to Nico Iamaleava controversy

Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava will enter the transfer portal, which opens Wednesday. This news comes after he missed Friday’s practice and team meetings without notifying the coaching staff. Volunteers coach Josh Heupel informed the team on Saturday that they would be moving on from Iamaleava.

The situation began with NIL negotiations that fell apart in January. Iamaleava, who was earning $2.4 million, was pushing for a raise to $4 million. The situation has stoked broader concerns about the lack of clear guidelines around NIL deals.

During a press conference on Saturday, LSU coach Brian Kelly was asked, “What do you do here early to prevent moments like that?”

“I think there’s changes coming in NIL,” Kelly said. “I think this is the first version of corrections, maybe. I think we're going to see a lot of this. This was a new world, and I think we're going to navigate it as best we can. There's going to be other situations that come and we're going to have to do the best we can.

"I think there is going to be better information out there that will allow people to look at comps for positions and say 'that makes sense' or 'that doesn't make sense.’ It will allow us to navigate a lot more reasonably moving forward for good or bad. ... I think this is the natural course for what would happen when there weren't many guidelines out there.”

Fans responded to his comments on X.

“He said a bunch of nothing,” a fan said.

"That was a lot of words that had absolutely no point to it,” another fan said.

“He's saying MAKE SOME GOD DAMN GUIDELINES,” a fan wrote.

Similar comments continued flooding in.

“There aren’t any guidelines, it’s a free for all. It’s ridiculous. No continuity on teams,” one fan commented.

“I saw these players need to be signed year to year. Then their pay would be based on performance. Just like the rest of the world,” a fan tweeted.

“I hope so coach,” a fan said.

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Who will be Tennessee’s next QB after Nico Iamaleava?

With Nico Iamaleava’s exit, redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger is first line for the starting job. He showed his skills in Saturday’s spring game, including a deep touchdown pass to wide receiver Mike Matthews.

Another option is freshman George MacIntyre, who also played in the spring game. One of his memorable moments was a long TD throw to fellow freshman Radarious Jackson.

Due to Southeastern Conference rules, Iamaleava will not be eligible to transfer to another SEC school and play in 2025. Similarly, Tennessee cannot bring in a QB from another SEC team for next season. The Vols will have to rely on internal options or target QBs from other conferences for their upcoming campaign.

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