Tennessee was the talk of the 2025 college football transfer portal cycle for all the wrong reasons as quarterback Nico Iamaleava departed from the program in arguably the most confounding saga of the spring.

The new Bruins quarterback disputed reports about the reasons behind his dramatic departure from Knoxville and discussed his perspective on what happened.

Iamaleava, the returning starter at Tennessee, left the team on the eve of the spring game due a reported NIL dispute, and eventually transferred to UCLA. The former five-star recruit’s departure was one of the stories of the offseason in college football.

Three months after Nico Iamaleava left Tennessee for UCLA and shook the college football world amidst the most significant contract dispute in the NIL era, the star quarterback finally broke his silence.

UCLA head coach Deshaun Foster reportedly wasn't 'forthcoming' with Joey Aguilar during the Nico Iamaleava transfer saga originally appeared on A to Z Sports. When Nico Iamaleava left the Tennessee Vols for the UCLA Bruins near the end of spring practice, no one’s world was turned more upside down than Joey Aguilar’s.