Why Nico Iamaleava 'Blessed' To Play at UCLA

Nico Iamaleava has finally found his home in college football at UCLA.

Coming out of high school in the 2023 class, Nico Iamaleava was a highly touted 5-star recruit and a top-three player in the nation. He would then commit to and play for the University of Tennessee, redshirting his first year before becoming the starting QB in 2024.

In that season, he would help Tennessee make its first College Football Playoff appearance. However, the Vols would match up against the eventual national champions in Ohio State, and in that game, Iamaleava struggled with 45% completion for zero touchdowns and was sacked four times.

Then, after the season, Nico Iamaleava and Tennessee would have a falling out over NIL disagreements, and he would enter the transfer portal and land at UCLA, in what was supposed to be a homecoming. However, he would have a disaster of a season with 1,928 passing yards, 13 touchdowns, and seven interceptions.

Now, Bob Chesney is the new head coach and has already instilled confidence in Iamaleava for next season.

Nico Iamaleava at Big Ten Media Day

Big Ten Media Days just wrapped up, and one of the biggest storylines throughout the day was Nico Iamaleava's ability to bounce back after last year. When speaking at Big Ten Media Days, Iamaleava spoke about Bob Chesney and their relationship.

"The transfer portal was never where I wanted to be," Iamaleava said. "First meeting, we got on the same page and everything was good, and we're here now."

Iamaleava also said that, even with the disaster that was last year, he wouldn't have changed anything and would still have come to UCLA last offseason.

"There's nothing I would change. I'm blessed to be in the position I am now. Everything happens for a reason, so it was a great learning year for me."

Bob Chesney Speaks on Iamaleava

Bob Chesney also spoke, praising Iamaleava and saying his decision to become the head coach was easy because of Iamaleava.

"He did not want to go anywhere," Chesney said. "This is where he wanted to be."

"Your quarterback needs to be your leader, and when you bring in an outsider, obviously, there's some friction that might occur at moments," Chesney said. "Having [Iamaleava] already present in that community, in that school, all the things that come with it, I think he finally had a chance just to let his guard down and be like, 'All right, we got a program. We're stable now. Let's do this thing.'"

With Bob Chesney’s support around Iamaleava, there is no reason to think that they both can't succeed together and bring UCLA back to being a respectable program in college football.

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