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The dominant story in the college football world for the past week has been the saga of former Tennessee starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava. The former top recruit had a so-so year as a first-year starter in Knoxville, and then skipped practice the day before the spring game after back-and-forth negotiations with Tennessee’s NIL collective, leading to Vols head coach Josh Heupel to publicly part ways with him on Saturday after the spring game.
While Nico’s camp thought there would be a lot of suitors for his services, given his pedigree and the fact that he took Tennessee to the College Football Playoff. But, at least publicly, UCLA was the only major program to pursue Iamaleava, and Los Angeles resident and Fox Sports personality Colin Cowherd somehow beat everyone to the scoop.
Cowherd follows college football, but he’s certainly not known as a super-fan, which makes sense as Los Angeles is a pro sports town. So, when he tweeted this Wednesday afternoon, people were a bit skeptical.
I am told — moments ago — Nico Iamaleava is going to UCLA. Family still claims it’s NOT about the 💰It’s about the @Vol_Football offense. I was not told what the Bruins are paying.
— Colin Cowherd (@colincowherd) April 16, 2025
After all, how would Cowherd out-scoop the biggest names in the sport like Bruce Feldman and Pete Thamel? But, that’s exactly what he did. Feldman didn’t report the story as a done deal until almost exactly an hour after Cowherd did.
As for UCLA, they’re set to get a big boost to their quarterback room, assuming that Nico can quickly gel with his teammates and learn the scheme. UCLA brought in a transfer quarterback from the portal in the winter window, signing Joey Aguilar from Appalachian State. I wouldn’t be surprised if he now entered the portal.
All eyes will certainly be on Nico Iamaleava, a Southern California native, when the UCLA season starts.