"Still hurts Lane": Disappointed Tennessee fans react to Ole Miss coach's reaction to Nico Iamaleava post

Syndication: The Columbus Dispatch - Source: Imagn — Syndication: The Columbus Dispatch (image credit: IMAGN)

Tennessee Volunteers fans have not had the best week with the news that Nico Iamaleava is entering the transfer portal. A report on Thursday from On3's Pete Nakos mentioned that Iamaleava and the Volunteers were engaged in NIL contract talks. The timing of this was odd considering that the quarterback was already under contract and set to start for the team next season.

However, the situation quickly escalated as Nakos reported on Saturday that Iamaleava skipped practice on Friday and is expected to enter the transfer portal. Shortly before the news that he was entering the transfer portal became official, a fan posted a meme with Iamaleava's face edited over the image of a person in a movie with prison moving papers.

When Nakos' Saturday report came out, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin reacted to the meme with a facepalm emoji.

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Kiffin's tweet resulted in a lot of reactions among college football fans, with many expressing disappointment on X. Some referenced Kiffin's sudden departure from Tennessee in 2010 after one season to take the coaching job at USC.

"Still hurts, Lane," one fan wrote.

"Funny you posted this, Lane. I was just wondering if Nico left Knoxville in the middle of the night, like you did..." a fan commented.

"Worst decision of your life," one fan said.

Here are more fan reactions:

"Don’t lie, you’d take Nico in a heart beat just out of spite," one fan wrote.

"Don’t get confused…. you are still Public Enemy #1 in Knoxville!! Especially at the Lexus dealership…." a fan commented.

"Congrats Lane on no longer being the most hated man in Vol Nation," another fan wrote.

Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava is limited in where he can go in the transfer portal

With Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava deciding to enter the transfer portal, his options are more limited than if he entered during the winter window. According to SEC rules, players cannot transfer to another school from the conference in the spring if they want to maintain their eligibility for next season.

If Iamaleava wants to play next season, he has two options. He can either transfer to a team outside the SEC, likely to a Big Ten, Big 12 or ACC program with QB needs, or return to Tennessee. However, it is unclear if Iamaleava's relationship with the Volunteers is permanently damaged.

About the author

Alexander O'Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC.

His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex's favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex's favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match.

Alex's proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.

Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.

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Edited by Victor Ramon Galvez