Cole Cubelic identifies potential landing spots for Nico Iamaleava

After announcing his plans to enter the transfer portal on Saturday, former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava immediately became the most sought-after fish in a well-stocked pond. On Tuesday, ESPN’s Cole Cubelic revealed potential landing spots for the highly-coveted QB.

“USC, UCLA, Notre Dame, are the main ones that I see,” Cubelic said. “Southern Cal is in great shape at quarterback. I don’t think they’re going to go in that direction. UCLA, I have no idea their NIL structure, how it works, how it operates with the newer regime. I don’t know where they want to go. You can leave that out there for whatever interpretation you want, but I have no idea.

“I’m gonna say right now to you people throwing out Notre Dame: hell to the no. No. You’ve never been around Marcus Freeman, you’ve never had a conversation with him, and you’ve never taken a deep dive into how he runs his program. Absolutely not. I think there is a 0.0% chance Notre Dame takes Nico Iamaleava or has any interest in it. That’s my opinion on it, without having to talked to Marcus himself.”

Whether or not these schools reach out to Iamaleava, it will be an enticing option. In his first season as Tennessee’s full-time starter, Iamaleava recorded 2,616 passing yards and 19 touchdowns while throwing five interceptions. He also recorded 358 yards and three scores in the ground game.

Nonetheless, many schools might be hesitant to reach out to Iamaleava due to the nature of his exit at Tennessee. Iamaleava and the Volunteers parted ways after they couldn’t come to an agreement on a new NIL deal for Iamaleava.

The standout QB was reportedly searching for a $4 million a year NIL deal; a hefty raise from his reported pre-existing deal of $2.2 million per year. Alas, USC, UCLA and Notre Dame aren’t the only programs Cubelic has heard as potentially Iamaleava’s next home.

“I don’t think [Ohio State head coach] Ryan Day is someone who wants to welcome some of that BS, but we referenced Quinshon Judkins when we talked to Jayson Swain and he went in. Did they have any problems with him? No, seemed like it went pretty well,” Cubelic said.

“North Carolina is a team that a lot of people are pointing to. Is Bill Belichick putting up with that? Doesn’t seem likely. So I think the landing spots are going to be more limited than we think.”

On Tuesday, On3’s Pete Nakos reported multiple teams are waiting to see if Iamaleava’s asking price falls. However, Cubelic wouldn’t be surprised if somebody is eventually willing to agree to a massive NIL deal with Iamaleava.

“Never, ever, ever underestimate the desperation for the quarterback position at any level of football,” Cubelic said. “All of them are desperate for quarterbacks, and this quarterback has a very high ceiling and a tremendous amount of talent. Is there baggage? Yes. Are there issues? Yes? Are there headaches? Yes. He can help people win games.”

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