Nico Iamaleava transfers to UCLA for 2025 football season

Nico Iamaleava has a new school heading into the 2025 football season after his bombshell exit from Tennessee, where he was the starter.

Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Nico Iamaleava has found a team, as the former Tennessee quarterback will transfer to UCLA for the 2025 college football season, the player announced on Sunday.

Nico is officially a Bruin! Welcome to Westwood, @nico_iamaleava8! #DoMore #DRE pic.twitter.com/75gv4nkCUK

— UCLA Football (@UCLAFootball) April 20, 2025

“To the amazing people in Knoxville, thank you for embracing and uplifting me throughout my time there, I’ll be forever thankful for the support you showed me every step of the way and I’ll always cherish the relationships I built there and the memories I created with my brothers,” Iamaleava said in a statement. 

“I believe with all my heart that I gave my all as a Volunteer. I’m truly grateful for the time I had at UT.  My journey at UT has come to an end. 

“This decision was incredibly difficult, and truthfully, not something I expected to make this soon. But I trust God’s timing, and I believe He’s leading me where I need to be.”

The decision comes after it was revealed Iamaleava had entered the transfer portal with a “do not contact” designation, indicating that he wanted to initiate contact with schools, not the other way around, and implies that he may have had a destination in mind already.

UCLA emerged as a possible candidate to sign Iamaleava ever since it revealed he would transfer away from Tennessee, as the school had maintained regular contact with the quarterback.

Iamaleava instantly became the biggest name in college football’s spring transfer portal window, and by far the most surprising, after his dramatic and sudden exit from Tennessee.

It was reported late last week that the quarterback was hoping to renegotiate his NIL contract with the Volunteers, culminating in his skipping the team’s last practice before the spring game.

When no offer was forthcoming and it was clear that Tennessee would not budge on Iamaleava’s reputed demands, the quarterback entered the transfer portal.

Iamaleava was said to be receiving as much as $2.4 million per year under the terms of his former NIL pact with the Vols, but insiders claimed he was seeking almost twice that much in a new deal.

But shortly after the quarterback finally left Tennessee, it was reported the schools that were interested in him were hoping he would come down considerably on his financial demands.

No details on the terms of Iamaleava’s potential NIL pact with UCLA are currently known.

A person close to Iamaleava was quoted by Front Office Sports as saying that the idea the quarterback wanted more money from Tennessee was “bullshit,” and said the player and his reps were more concerned with the quality of the team’s linemen and receivers.

Iamaleava was a major recruiting gain for Tennessee, signing with the program as a five-star prospect, playing 18 games and starting 14 contests for the Volunteers.

In his career, the quarterback has 2,930 passing yards with 21 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, rushing for 435 additional yards and 6 more touchdowns.

Last season as the full-time starter, Iamaleava passed for 2,616 yards with 19 touchdowns and 5 picks, leading the Vols to a 10-3 record and its first appearance in the College Football Playoff.

How the college football transfer portal works

The NCAA Transfer Portal is a private database that includes the names of student-athletes in every sport at the Division I, II, and III levels. The full list of names is not available to the public.

A player can enter their name into the transfer portal through their school’s compliance office.

Once a player gives written notification of their intent to transfer, the office puts the player’s name into the database, and they officially become a transfer.

The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and NCAA rules forbid anyone from refusing that request.

The database includes the player’s name, contact information, info on whether the player was on scholarship, and if he is a graduate student.

Once a player’s name appears in the transfer portal database, other schools are free to contact the player, who can change his mind at any point in the process and withdraw from the transfer portal.

Notably, once a player enters the portal, his school no longer has to honor the athletic scholarship it gave him.

And if that player decides to leave the portal and return to his original school, the school doesn’t have to give him another scholarship.

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