Tennessee's QB breakup embodies new NIL issues in college athletics

Former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava wanted to be paid more

So in a first-of-its-kind college football holdout, he decided not to show up for the end of the team's spring practices

Over the weekend, Iamaleava entered his name in the transfer portal, capping what has been a very public breakup over his name, image, and likeness compensation

Reports say the rising sophomore was looking to renegotiate the four-year, $8 million deal he signed while still in high school

Tennessee, it appears, took a stand and said no. We're moving forward as a program without him

I said it to the guys today, there's no one that's bigger than the power tee

and that includes me, and they hear me say that a lot inside of that team room

This situation is the epitome of the state of college football, which is inevitably marching towards becoming a pay-for-play professional sport

Iyama Leava led the Falls to the college football playoff last season as a freshman

throwing for 2,600 yards, 19 touchdowns, and just five interceptions. Reports say he wants to double his payment to $4 million per year

But schools around the country are preparing for a world where they will have a salary cap

on the amount they can pay players The House vs NCAA Antitrust Settlement which is expected to be approved in the next couple of weeks will allow each school to spend million on all their sports rosters combined

And though outside collectives will still be able to add to those payments

giving one player nearly a fifth of that $22.5 million was a red line for the Vols

This program is ready to go win next fall. As a program, since we've been here, we've won with a lot of different QBs, done it historically in my career with a lot of different QBs

Some of those guys have been older, some of them have been younger, but we'll have a quarterback that's ready to go win and help us compete for a championship

April is a tough time for schools to break the bank on a new player, even a star quarterback, as most NIL deals are already done

But Iamalayava is counting on a quarterback needy school to pay close to his $4 million a year price

Perhaps a school like UCLA, he is from Southern California, or North Carolina, or Maryland, or Oklahoma State could be in the market

One place we know he won't land is at another SEC school

The conference bylaws say no player can move to another conference team in the spring window

Wherever he winds up, this battle between student employee and school employer seems like it's just getting started

For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis