"Tennessee is not a winner": Josh Pate reveals only winner out of Nico Iamaleava's NIL controversy

College football is slowly becoming a mini pro football league. The changing dynamics of operations in the form of NIL payout have insinuated a sense of greed for more money that is slowly tainting the legacy of college athletics, according to Josh Pate.

The lead analyst shared his candid take about the ongoing Nico Iamaleava drama with the University of Tennessee. Last week, on Saturday, Josh Heupel officially released Iamaleava after two years with the team. He didn't show up for the practice on Friday after reports of him negotiating with the team management for NIL money.

“Josh Heupel made a sound tactical judgment call to cut loose an appendage that at this point was of no further value to his team,” Pate said on his show on Sunday. [Timestamp - 6:00].

Iamaleava is drawing approximately $2.4 million and reportedly demanded almost $4 million to play in the 2025 season. Heupel decided to let go of the quarterback and made the official announcement.

“Not to mention he didn't think it was worth $4 million nor does anyone else in their right mind," Pate said. "But they're not a winner. Tennessee is not a winner. The guy they had their entire offense built around as recently as 72 hours ago, is not there anymore."

Pate mentions that nobody associated with the real sport is a winner in the controversy but the “clown” representatives, who happen to negotiate on players’ behalf with the general managers.

“The coach, the program, the player, the fan base, they lose, and you've got some clown trying to represent someone to squeeze a million more dollars out of a collective that's the only one that may stand to win in the entire proposition,” he added.

Nico Iamaleava's situation has set a precedent for the grand chaos

Things will get out of control this year since the House vs NCAA settlement will take effect in 2025. Each school will reportedly get $20.5 million to distribute among its programs and a major chunk of it goes to football.

The university will have access to almost half of that chunk to recruit and manage the playing roster. This happens to be an additional fund above the current NIL system, where players tend to get paid for running campaigns and endorsements.

This will lead players to get more access to negotiate contracts, something similar to the pro league, where top-tier players sign massive contracts. Not to mention, the transfer portal exodus and players leaving the program right after the regular season would soon become a household thing.