"It happens all over the country": Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman gets real on Nico Iamaleava and Tennessee saga 

Marcus Freeman joined the long list of coaches who have reacted to the saga that developed between Tennessee and Nico Iamaleava. The quarterback found himself out of the Volunteers football program after attempting to renegotiate his NIL deal at the tail end of the spring camp.

In his appearance on “Hard Count with JD Pickel,” Freeman made it known that the drama between Tennessee and Iamaleava last week wasn't in any way peculiar to both parties. In a largely unregulated NIL landscape, he argued that it has become the norm across the country.

“I think that was a situation that became public, but I think it happens all over the country,” Freeman said via On3.com. “I think you have representatives for players and representatives for the university that are kind of having those discussions, but that one was a public one.

“The reality is our players are getting compensated, deserve to get compensated. What you don’t want to do, which I’m sure you’ve heard many coaches say, you don’t want players to make a temporary decision based off a temporary situation that’s going to affect them long term," he added.

The breakup between Nico Iamaleava and Tennessee was largely unexpected across the college football world. The quarterback was anticipated to lead the Volunteers' offense for another season after his performance in 2024, where he threw for 2,616 yards and 19 touchdowns.

Marcus Freeman warns student-athletes against transactional career decisions

With the introduction of NIL and the transfer portal into the college football landscape, decisions of many players have been largely influenced by money. Having seen many players thread the path over the years at Notre Dame and beyond, Marcus Freeman warned against it.

“Transactional decisions aren’t always the best ones for your future,” Freeman said. “And I think every situation is different, every football program is different.

“At the end of the day you want to do what’s right for college football, between what’s right for college football and also what’s right for our players. But you don’t want this public disagreement to really tarnish what’s so good about our profession and our sport," he added.

Nico Iamaleava was earlier linked to Notre Dame after Tennessee moved on from him. However, subsequent reports suggested that there's little to no chance of that happening in the spring window.

Freeman will, therefore, choose his next starting quarterback among the three options that competed for the role in the spring camp: CJ Carr, Steve Agnelli and Kenny Minchey.