Nico Iamaleava has already done the college football transfer portal journey once.
He could be looking at it again after the way things have gone for him at UCLA this season, a couple years removed from his saga leaving the Tennessee Volunteers.
Iamaleava’s season has been ruined by injury, which is going to change what his future looks like for sure — it just remains to be seen exactly in what way he’ll be impacted.
Nico Iamaleava Future
Iamaleava’s future could include another transfer, at least based on what The Athletic’s Antonio Morales wrote on Monday.
Morales wonders if Iamaleava’s injury this season could push UCLA in a different direction, and if it could delay Iamaleava’s potential pursuit of an NFL opportunity.
“Iamaleava flashed at times, and it seems like he would’ve tested the NFL waters after this season, his fourth in college, if not for the injury,” Morales writes. “UCLA would probably welcome him back as the starter, but the staff might not want to rely on a quarterback who plays a physically demanding style that leads to injury risk.”
It could also depend quite a bit on how UCLA finishes this season with Ty Diffenbach at quarterback.
“Iamaleava mostly played fine in the five games he started before suffering a season-ending knee injury against Oregon on Oct. 10,” Morales writes. “UCLA, 7-0 and ranked seventh in the country, looks good right now with Cal Poly transfer Ty Dieffenbach running the offense.”
The Bruins are playing at their best possible level right now, and if they keep up like this, Iamaleava may get boxed out of a job and have to figure out what to do next.
Nico Iamaleava Stats
Iamaleava joined the Bruins before last season after leaving Tennessee.
Last year, Iamaleava completed 64.4% of passes for 1,928 yards in 11 games. He threw 13 touchdowns with seven interceptions. He also ran an impressive 112 times for 505 yards and four more TDs.
This season so far, Iamaleava had thrown for 982 yards (62.1%) with four TDs and four INTs. He also had 42 runs for 144 yards and a touchdown.
He still hasn’t lived up to his 2024 season at Tennessee, when he threw for 19 touchdowns compared to just five interceptions while throwing for 2,616 yards on 63.8% completion rate.
Iamaleava had led the Vols to the College Football Playoff, but his pursuit of more money ruined his ending in Knoxville, and now Nico’s college football future is uncertain.
UCLA’s Nico Iamaleava Might Need Another New Team After Tennessee Saga