Harrison Bailey stops just short of telling response on Tenneseee, Nico Iamaleava breakup
Harrison Bailey is four years and three schools removed from the Tennessee program. Now with the Florida Gators, Bailey was still asked about the Nico Iamaleava situation that unfolded in Knoxville. When speaking to the media, somebody wanted to know his opinion on the matter.
Bailey began to give some thoughts before stopping himself a couple of times. The quarterback does have a relationship with Josh Heupel and met Iamaleava at one point. In what could have been a telling answer, Bailey was able to keep the response pretty basic.
“I didn’t even know until some of the Gator fans ran up to me, telling me,” Bailey said during a Monday press conference. “It doesn’t surprise — I don’t really know. It’s a tricky, um. I don’t know the full situation so I can’t really comment too much on it. But I’ve met Nico before and I know how Coach Heupel and the group is. They’re all great people, I have nothing negative to say about them. Maybe the situation wasn’t right at the time and they parted ways.”
Bailey spent two seasons on Rocky Top, playing under Jeremy Pruitt as a true freshman in 2020 and then the following year was Heupel’s first campaign. Seven games were played by Bailey in a Tennessee uniform, throwing 75 passes, completing 51 of them for 594 yards, four touchdowns, and two interceptions.
Some experience in the NCAA transfer portal is there for him too. Bailey left Tennessee in favor of UNLV before spending the last two seasons at Louisville. Now with Florida, he is closing out his collegiete career back in the SEC with the Gators.
Times have certainly changed since Bailey entered college football. And while he is thankful for the opportunities presented to him, scenarios like the Iamaleava one are still mind-blowing to see.
“When I first entered college, there was no such thing as the portal,” Bailey said. “Which is interesting to say. Yeah, I don’t know. It’s new day and age football. I’m glad I’m getting out. It’s helped me a lot, I will say.”
We have yet to see how a stint in the transfer portal will work out for Iamaleava. On3’s Pete Nakos provided the most recent intel on Monday, listing a trio of schools interested in the now-former Tennessee quarterback. Everything will get underway on Wednesday when the portal officially opens for the spring window.
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