Lane Kiffin pressed for comment on Nico Iamaleava split with Tennessee

The top story in college football over the last week and change has centered around quarterback Nico Iamaleava and his departure from Tennessee. Of course, Lane Kiffin was pressed for a comment on the matter during a press conference as spring practice rages on.

Evidently, the Ole Miss leader believes there’s a lot of misinformation out there regarding the drama. Kiffin called for fans, players and the media to see both sides, opting not to side with the program over the player in this situation, defending Iamaleava.

“I’m not really going to comment much on that. I don’t know all the details,” Kiffin stated. “I think that, you know, that happens a lot, with media, with fans obviously nowadays, with how quickly things are put out, or somebody says something from an unnamed source, and all those things and all these comments are made, in this instance, about a kid, and we don’t even have the facts to know if the stuff and the narrative out there is even true. So I don’t think it’s really fair to take shots at him when all the facts and details of the situation aren’t out there and seem to just be, you know, more in favor of the program side.

“We’re able to have a big voice, as a program, when a kid leaves or something, because we’ve got much more access to the media and controlling the message than the kid does. So, I don’t know the details in that. I think it’s a little bit unfair what’s going on, especially because I hear the other side, that those details that are out there are not accurate.”

Continuing, Kiffin was also asked what Ole Miss would do if a player decided to hold out for more NIL money, like Iamaleava was reported to have done in Knoxville. Still, the coach isn’t so sure that’s exactly what happened, and Kiffin stated his belief that it’s unfair to paint that picture of the now-former SEC quarterback.

“I’m not going to get into that too much, because I think that’s the narrative that’s out there of what happened,” Kiffin added. “I’ll just say I’ve talked to the other side of that, and Nico’s side is a very different story of what happened. So, I don’t think it’s fair to comment on that, or say that that’s exactly what took place.”

All told, Lane Kiffin has no interest in participating in a smear campaign of Nico Iamaleava, wanting to have the whole story before speaking on the quarterback’s situation. One thing is for sure: he’ll be out of the coach’s purview in 2025, as the former Tennessee star isn’t allowed to transfer within the SEC and be eligible to play next year. UCLA seems like the destination, but the ink isn’t dry on anything yet.

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