The 2024 college football season marked the first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff, which had previously been a four-team tournament since 2014.
While the expanded playoff format has entered a new era for the sport, it is not the only significant change in college athletics. The introduction of the NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) era and the transfer portal have also transformed the landscape of college sports. Now, players can profit from their name, image and likeness, something that was not permitted before.
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Former Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Nico Iamaleava emerged as a highly sought-after recruit from high school and secured major NIL deals. According to The Athletic, he signed an NIL agreement with Spyre Sports Group that could be valued at $8 million over three years, marking a pivotal moment in the NIL era. Iamaleava also partnered with Beats by Dre ahead of the 2024 season and launched a campaign with The Dairy Alliance, further expanding his portfolio of NIL deals. Additionally, his NIL valuation increased from $1.2 million to $2.1 million over the course of the year.
Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Nico Iamaleava (8). Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
Despite Iamaleava signing lucrative NIL deals as a recruit and after his first season, On3’s Pete Nakos reported last week that the quarterback’s team was negotiating with Tennessee to get more NIL deals. However, Iamaleava’s father refuted those rumors. The following day, Iamaleava did not attend practice, which fueled speculation about a possible departure. It was then announced on Saturday that he was no longer with the program.
College football analyst Josh Pate revealed on his podcast, “Josh Pate’s College Football Show,” that Iamaleava nearly sat out the Volunteers’ first-ever playoff game last season.
“A lot of the stuff they told you that wouldn’t happen, it’s funny how it keeps happening,” Pate said. “These are the same people who would tell you players would never opt out of playoff games. If we had more playoff games and less meaningless bowl games, then players wouldn’t opt out of playoff games. You know, that same crowd fails to mention that this past December, cats like Nico Iamaleava almost held out of playoff games because they were trying to renegotiate contracts in the middle of the playoff run. He wasn’t the only one.”
According to On3, Iamaleava was a five-star recruit and the No. 1 player in the 2023 class. In his first year as the starting quarterback in 2024, he threw for 2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns and five interceptions. His performance helped lead Tennessee to the College Football Playoff, where it lost to the eventual champion, the Ohio State Buckeyes, by a score of 42-17.
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Iamaleava had a strong start to the season, throwing for 314 yards and three touchdowns in his first game while completing 78.6 percent of his passes. However, he did not surpass 300 yards in passing again throughout the season. In fact, he had eight games with fewer than 200 yards passing, including that playoff game in which he managed only 104 yards.
As we enter this new era of college football, it remains to be seen if players will choose to opt out of a playoff game, potentially shocking the college football world.
Related: Paul Finebaum Sends Warning to College Football Teams Over Nico Iamaleava
