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Scarbo Knows with Kevin Scarbinsky
You know Kevin Scarbinsky as Scarbo. He knows sports. He knows basketball and football, Alabama and Auburn, the state of Alabama, the SEC and so much more. Join him as he takes you behind the scenes of the biggest stories and inside the minds of the biggest names. You know Scarbo Knows. So let's go.
Scarbo Knows with Kevin Scarbinsky
The sad, strange saga of former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava
A week ago, Nico Iamaleava was the returning quarterback on a Tennessee team coming off a playoff spot. Now he's the poster child for everything that's wrong with college football. That's unfair, but at the moment, through a series of major miscalculations, he's in search of a new school, and Chicken Littles everywhere see the sport's sky falling. We separate the truth from the hysteria with longtime UT insider Jimmy Hyams.
so What in the world is happening to college football? Alabama has a spring game that attracts about 15,000 people to Bryant-Denny Stadium. It wasn't really even a game. It was a glorified practice. And by the way, if you wanted to get on the field to have your favorite player or coach sign something, you had to contribute to Alabama's collective, Yay Alabama. At Colorado, where Cordell Stewart does not have his jersey retired, come Saturday, Shador Sanders will. It helps to have your dad as the head coach. And meanwhile, a 20-year-old quarterback, formerly of the Tennessee Volunteers, has suddenly become public enemy number one in the entire sport. You talk about what's happening today on tax day. No one is paying the piper over the last few days, quite like Nico Iamaliava from formerly of the Tennessee Volunteers. Now, when I want to know what's really happening in Knoxville surrounding the Tennessee program, when I want to separate the hysteria from the truth, I either read or listen to or watch my guest today, longtime SEC columnist, reporter, broadcaster, his Twitter bio says he's retired, but he still seems to be working to me. Jimmy Hyams is our guest today. Jimmy, how are you doing? Kevin? I'm doing great. I hope you are as well. I am. Thank you so much for joining me to try to bring some sense and some sanity to what really has become an insane situation. So let's, let's start at the beginning here. Before we get into the heart of the matter, tell us about Nico. as a person because it's almost as if nico the person has gotten lost here he's become a symbol he's become a rallying cry uh he's become a as i said public enemy number one in some people's eyes totally unfair in my mind what is nico like as a person from what you've gotten to know in the short time relatively speaking he's been in knoxville
SPEAKER_01:a good kid a polite kid he came in with the five stars rating he came in making a lot of money but he did not um Showed that with his teammates. He was very humble. He tried to be a sponge. He wanted to learn. He didn't walk in like, hey, I'm the dude. Everybody get out of my way. Wasn't like that at all. And so I heard nothing but compliments from his teammates, from the players around him, from the coaches. I think he's a good kid. And I think he's gotten some horrible advice, but I think he's a good kid who his teammates really liked a lot. Until now.
SPEAKER_00:Until recent events might have changed some minds. And we should remind people, he is 20 years old. He'll turn 21 on September 2nd, three days after the Vols open against Syracuse. Now, Jimmy, let's talk about Nico the player. Obviously, he was the starter last year as a redshirt freshman, or I guess he was a sophomore. He played in the bowl game the year before Syracuse. He was a part of a Tennessee team that went to the playoff for the first time since they won that national championship the first year of the BCS. Let's look at some of his numbers. We've got a graphic to pop up here, Brendan, if you will. Look at his rankings, his numbers and his rankings in a number of categories within the SEC. Jimmy, tell us just your evaluation of him as a player last year.
SPEAKER_01:He was an above-average quarterback. There was a whole bunch of, I call it malarkey out there, that he was a Heisman Trophy candidate in Vegas. They had him as one of the top five in the country in the Heisman Trophy. I thought, oh, that was a bunch of bull. He had never proven it. And he did play pretty well in the bowl game that he started. You mentioned he had one start there. That was against Iowa. But I didn't see him being the great player. I saw a lot of talent. But if you look at those numbers, so he was 10th in the SEC in passing yards per game. Kevin, they had the six best opponents Tennessee played last year. They were three and three. He completed 57.5% of his passes, and he had five touchdowns and three interceptions. Those are against the best teams that he played. Those are very pedestrian numbers. Now, do I still think he's got a chance to be a really good quarterback? I do, but he hadn't proven it yet. And to come in and say, okay, I want to jump from 2.4, 2.7 million to 4 million a year, That's laughable. Laughable. And then when he no-showed at practice, Josh Hypo really got ticked off at him. Hypo's a pretty affable guy. He doesn't get upset about much, but that really, it ticked him off. One, that Nico didn't show, and secondly, cut off all communication. And I was told on Friday, that particular Friday, that he was done. He would never wear another Tennessee uniform, and that proved to be true.
SPEAKER_00:Well, let's transition. And I'm with you. Again, you look at those numbers where he ranked among SEC quarterbacks last year, eighth in total passing yards, seventh in passing touchdowns, seventh in interceptions. That's the definition of mediocrity or mid, as the kids say nowadays. Not that he didn't have upside, and he was a first-year starter. We have to take that into account. But the idea that you would, after putting together that kind of season– think that you were do a 67% raise or whatever the number was that they were asking for, I think is what has turned so many people off. Walk us through, if you will, because we've seen so many stories. We've heard so many rumors about what actually went down last Thursday. Supposedly, he's at a quarterback meeting in the evening at the offensive coordinator's house. Everything is lovely. It's seashells and balloons. Then the story breaks. The dad criticizes Pete Nacos from on three, calls him a rather unflattering term. And the next thing you know, he doesn't show up at practice, as you said, Friday. Just walk us through the process as best you are aware
SPEAKER_01:of. I'll take you back to December. There were rumblings in December that E.M. Aliavo and his dad, now his dad is the driving force. Let's make no mistake about that. His dad is calling the shots. There's no question. So back then when they saw Carson Beck getting$4 million to go to Miami, when they saw a quarterback from Tulane going to Duke for about$4 million, those have not been substantiated to my knowledge, but it's been reported it's around$4 million. The dad said, hey, then we want that. Well, they didn't resolve it in December. And one of the other things allegedly that the dad asked for is he wanted a better supporting cast. He needs another receiver or two. He needs another offensive lineman or two to help him. And quite frankly, Tennessee's receiving core wasn't that good last year. So that is part of the equation, I think. But I guarantee you this, if Tennessee had said, Nico, we give you$4 million, but you're not getting another receiver, he'd still be at Tennessee. So this is all about the money. All right, so you're exactly right about Thursday. They had the quarterback meeting. He was there. They were still– now, what happened from December until recently, I've heard people say ongoing negotiations. I think there was a ceasefire. There wasn't a whole lot of conversation going on for a long time. And so then as the portal approaches, then the dad gets involved and says, okay, we want$4 million from Tennessee. And Tennessee's like, whoa, wait a minute. And I think basically Tennessee said the kid isn't good enough to pay him$4 million. Not only that, you're going to mess up the structure of what we're trying to pay other players. And how about this novel idea? Why don't you honor your contract? I know it's not binding. But remember, Tennessee, he signed a four-year contract with Tennessee. Tennessee paid him, I'm not 100% sure of this, but close to a million dollars his senior year of high school when he did nothing for Tennessee. So then he goes to Tennessee the first year. He makes around$2 million. He actually did redshirt. He played few enough games to be able to redshirt. And then last year, he had a mediocre year, and he got paid about$2.4 million. And then he wants a bump from that to about 4 million. It's like, are you kidding me? So I think Tennessee, and this is the guy that's supposed to be the leader of your team. And all this was from his dad's perspective is a money grab. That's all it is. We're going to shop it. And by the way, the dad had actually called Oregon the week before, shopping him around saying, hey, how much would you pay for my son to go to Oregon?
SPEAKER_00:I want to ask you about that because that story has been circulating that perhaps it may have been Oregon coach Dan Lanning or someone close to him who blew the whistle on that reach out and let Tennessee know, hey, by the way, your starting quarterback or someone representing your starting quarterback, namely his father, I would suppose, is reaching out and shopping him to other schools. Is there truth to that as far as you know? i
SPEAKER_01:do not know i don't know what that occurred i do know that dan lanning was asked after the spring game about it and he said no comment
SPEAKER_00:that's a comment of its own right
SPEAKER_01:yeah so but i i don't know i can't say for sure if what you just mentioned occurred so i don't know
SPEAKER_00:now perhaps the most damaging as if what you've already described isn't damaging enough to Nico, his father, the family, the player's reputation, and perhaps his future. Even worse than all of that, Josh Pate from CBS Sports Online has come out and said in no uncertain terms that Nico, going into the playoff last year, asked Tennessee for more money because His alleged contract didn't cover the postseason. It only covered the regular season, 12 games, and perhaps if they would have made the SEC championship game. That is beyond outrageous if it is true. Josh Pate didn't cite sources. I don't know about his credibility on that or anything else, to be honest. But that is a really damaging allegation to throw out there. Do you have any knowledge whatsoever about that?
SPEAKER_01:No, I don't. I just know that it was in December that they started pursuing a contract because they saw what Carson Beck was getting in Miami and what Mensah was getting at Duke. So I am aware of that. I don't know if they asked for more money just to play. I will say this, and I am semi-retired. I'm trying not to do a whole lot here, so I don't dig like I used to. Right. In regard to this situation with Nico, I have been talking with a number of people who believe that it's going to be a situation where a player's going to say, if you want me to play in the playoff game, I want an extra$100,000. It's going to come to that. It shouldn't, but I think it will come to that with some players. I can't say that Nico did that. To be honest with you, knowing the way his dad works, I wouldn't be surprised, but I do not know that for a fact.
SPEAKER_00:You've always had your finger on the pulse of Vol Nation, their feelings about whatever is happening in Knoxville. And I think, as you mentioned earlier, Josh Heupel has been almost universally applauded for the way that he handled this. He may have been angry in private. He kept it private when he spoke at the spring game or after the spring game. He was complimentary of Nico. He wished him well. appreciated his contributions to the program. He didn't go negative as he certainly could have.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Has that been the general reaction of the fan base? Good riddance. You don't care enough about running through the power T. And if you don't, we don't want you here.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, that is it. Good riddance. You're out of here. They support what Josh Seipel did. And by the way, I heard a number of people in the media at that press conference, which I did attend, say they thought that was the best press conference Josh Heupel's ever had, the way he handled that situation. And I think it would rank among the best that he's had. But he took the high road on that situation. He did, of course, point out that Tennessee is bigger than Nico or any player or himself, being Heupel. So, yeah, I thought he handled it very well. But that is– I mean, Nico– He went from being very popular to being public enemy number one among the Vol Nation. I think they probably dislike him more than they ever disliked Steve Spurrier. Whoa, that's a huge statement. That's saying a lot back when Spurrier was beating and gigging Tennessee. Yes, on a regular basis. Who will ever forget you can't spell citrus without UT? yes yeah among others but um yeah so uh he he's really burned that bridge here's another thought about that kevin so let's say he's gonna go to i think he's going west coast i may be wrong uh i heard north carolina i don't know if that's gonna happen texas tech let's just say he goes texas tech he's not gonna get four million i don't think i don't think anybody's gonna pay him that much because he's not worth it but what if he goes to texas tech for three million Let's say he throws 10 touchdown passes the first three games. And he says, hey, I want a million more. I'm not playing. He might
SPEAKER_00:do that. What's to stop him?
SPEAKER_01:Yes. And if I'm that school, I'm leery of that. I'm not touching a guy that would do something like that. So I'll be curious to see where he lands. I do think the dad certainly overplayed his hand by asking for$4 million. Way overplayed it. And I think Tennessee did the right thing by not– Caving in.
SPEAKER_00:So his dad is driving the bus, as you said. So does he not have a formal agent from outside the family to help advise them on these kind of decisions, these career-making or potentially breaking situations?
SPEAKER_01:My understanding is he does not have a formal agent, but he does have an advisor. And I don't know if the dad and the advisor are on the same page. I don't know that. I will tell you another thing that surfaced around here, and I don't know how true this is, and this would lean into maybe siding slightly with the E.M. Aliala plan, and that is there had been some that have suggested that Tennessee's collective Spire Sports had been indicating to Nico and his family, we're going to get you more money. We're going to get it there. You just stick with us and we'll get more money. And that maybe Tennessee was not on the same page with that and didn't know that was going on.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. That's a great point that you bring up. And that's part of the reason that we have the chaos that we have. When you factor in the transfer portal, the NIL money, none of which by themselves are necessarily bad things. I don't think any of us begrudges these guys getting a cut of the pie because And I don't want to speak for you, but certainly my feeling is we know how much money is flowing into college football. We know what coaches are making, athletic directors, commissioners, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So the guys who are putting their bodies on the line certainly have earned a cut of the pie. It's the fact that there are no real guardrails, no real rules here. It is get what you can get when you can get it. And that's, I think what upsets people more than anything. And I've got to ask you this. And I, I think I know your answer based on what you said so far. What if, and it is interesting to watch and everybody's on the Nico watch now, what's he going to do? Where's he going to go? What's he going to get paid? Is he going to get a decent offer? North Carolina apparently has turned in a different direction. Some reports came out of the state of Alabama where, late last night, that Gio Lopez, the quarterback at South Alabama, is now the target for North Carolina, and he's most likely going to end up there when the portal, of course, the portal opens up on Wednesday. So maybe that's another school off the list for Nico. What if, and maybe I'm trying to look for a silver lining here if that's even possible. What would happen if Nico Iamaliava said to his father, Dad, you screwed up. We made a huge mistake. I didn't want to leave Tennessee. I liked it at Tennessee. I had a great opportunity at Tennessee. I'm playing for one of the best offensive minds in the country in Josh Heupel. We went to the playoff. I like my teammates. I'm going to go to Josh Heupel, and I'm going to apologize, and I'm going to say, Coach, I screwed up. My dad screwed up. I am sorry. horribly, terribly sorry that we put you and the program through this. I would like to come back. I would like to come back and earn my spot back. I don't want to play anywhere else. I want to play at Tennessee. What would their reaction be? A, from Josh Heupel, B, from the university, C, from the fan base?
SPEAKER_01:That's a great question. I don't know the answer to it. I know that that Hypo was really ticked off that Nico was a no-show at Friday practice and cut off all communication. Okay. He didn't have to cut off all communication unless I'm sure his dad told him to. I would say that if he came back to Tennessee to Hypo, to the teammates, to the fan base and apologized, I don't think Tennessee would take him back. And I don't think they would because that's the kid saying it, but we don't trust the dad. The dad's a problem, and I think that they would feel like we're done with this. I mean, think about it. They paid him over$5 million, well, around$5 million. He won 11 games. That's about$500,000 per win. Did I get that right?
SPEAKER_00:I'm not a math major, but I think you're pretty close right there, yes.
SPEAKER_01:So they're saying, you know, we've done all this for you, and then you turncoat on us like that. So I don't think they would take him back. It's a great question. And I know that he had a lot of respect from his teammates. I don't know if he could gain it back with an apology. Maybe he could, and maybe he would. I think that's a very unlikely scenario. But I do think it's a great question how Tennessee would react. And if there was a guarantee that the dad was out of the picture, I think that would certainly enhance the chances of Tennessee taking Nico back.
SPEAKER_00:And really, that's probably the rub. How could you assure that he would cut ties with his dad and go his own way, make his own decisions, and not allow his dad to influence him or steer him one way or another? That would be an... an enormous gamble on Tennessee's part, which is probably why it wouldn't happen if he did go to them and apologize, which is probably not going to happen either. What does this mean for the Vols on the field, Jimmy? What does the quarterback position look like? Clearly, Nico was going to be the starter. He was the guy they were going to lean on to be the leader. What now? Are they content? to go into the season with the other guys in that room? Or will they be shopping when that portal opens? They're going into the portal.
SPEAKER_01:And Josh Heupel even said that. They need to go into the portal. They would like to find a quarterback better than what they have on campus. If they can't find a quarterback better than they have on campus and have to get somebody that at least is competitive, that you feel like if you put in a game, you got a chance to win. But yeah, they're going to go in the portal, no doubt about it. But here's the dicey situation. What if you go in the portal and you sign a quarterback that's got two or three years of eligibility left? You're trying to build depth. You do that and you might lose Jake Merlinger and George McIntyre. Now, I think they should go and get the best quarterback you can get that has one year of eligibility left. That's what I think they should do. Who is that guy? I don't know. But I think that's the right approach that you take. Here's the other thing, too. If you go in and get a guy with two or three years of eligibility left, you've got a five-star quarterback committed for 2026. What's he going to think about that? So I think you've got to be really careful about how you approach that. So if I'm Tennessee, I'm going after the best quarterback I can find with one year of eligibility left. And, look, being honest about it, Nico's the best quarterback on campus, or was. And I don't see them winning as many games without Nico. Now, whoever they bring in may change my mind. But, Kevin, I wasn't as bullish on this Tennessee team as some people. I've heard a lot of them talk about, oh, they're a playoff team. Vegas set the odds at 9.5, over under 9.5. Let me tell you something. I'm going under in a heartbeat, even with Nico. Even with Nico. Even with Nico. I don't think Tennessee is going to be that good. One, the defense will be solid again. Offensively, they were pedestrian last year. They weren't that good in the SEC. They had like five games where they couldn't even score in the first half. The receiving core right now is pretty average, and the offensive line is pretty average, and you just lost the SEC Offensive Player of the Year in Dylan Sampson. Your offense isn't going to be any better than it was, in my opinion. You're not going to beat Florida at Florida. They never do. I don't think you beat Alabama at Alabama, and you're not going to beat Georgia. And The hypo history at Tennessee is that they lose to somebody they shouldn't, whether that was Arkansas last year, Missouri the year before, South Carolina the year before that.
SPEAKER_00:That's eight and four right there. If you take care of business, the rest in every other game.
SPEAKER_01:So I think they're eight and four, even with Nico, which is why if I were in Vegas, I'd be putting a lot of money on the under on that nine and a half. Now, understand it's going to eight and a half. I still put Tennessee going under because I just don't see it. And one reason I say that about the receivers and the offensive linemen, Tennessee, they've got some talent in the receiving corps, but their history has been nobody in their first year coming into Tennessee as a receiver has prospered. One exception maybe is Brew McCoy. I think he caught like 52 passes. But all the others, it took them a while. Offensive linemen, they bring in offensive linemen. Lance Hurd wasn't that good last year. John Campbell from Miami that came in, he wasn't that good the year before. Their offensive linemen don't tear it up when they get to Tennessee in their first year. They're better in their second year. So I think this is going to be an offense that's going to be challenged. I think in SEC games, Tennessee averaged about 27 points last year. I think that number would be similar this year with Nico. Without him, it'll be less.
SPEAKER_00:Jimmy, let me ask you, before we wrap this up, let me ask you kind of a big-picture question. And Brendan, let's look at that graphic of the 24-7 sports rankings. This was the class of 2023, the class that Nico Iamaliava was in. He was the number two quarterback in the country. And of those top 10 quarterbacks, just two years later, only three are still with the school they originally signed with. Arch Manning at Texas, Avery Johnson, not to be confused with the former Alabama basketball coach at Kansas State. And then Christopher Vazina, he's familiar to folks in this area. He played at Briarwood High School and he's at Clemson. That means seven of the 10 have signed with other schools or will be playing with other schools because they will no longer be like Nico with their original school. Is this what we're going to see going forward? at least until we have some sanity, some guidelines, some rules, collective bargaining, whatever the answer turns out to be to calm this chaos, are we going to continue
SPEAKER_01:to see this? Kevin, I think we are. That's a great graphic, by the way. Here's another point, too. How many of those 10 quarterbacks have been a star so far in college? I think Arch Manning will be. I would say zero
SPEAKER_00:so far to this point.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and maybe the best, most productive so far, maybe Avery Johnson at Kansas State, based on what he did last year.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:But he wasn't great.
SPEAKER_00:No, he
SPEAKER_01:was not. Yeah, I think that's really intriguing to see that. So you know the name of Will Overstreet, right? I do. So Will Overstreet's a former Tennessee star defensive lineman. He does a TV show around here. I was on a show with him yesterday. He said he would not sign another quarterback out of high school. All he would do is go in the portal. for quarterbacks in the future. Never sign one. I said, wait a minute. I said, yeah, and I don't agree with him, but here was my point. I said, let's say Quinn Ewers was a senior and you could sign Arch Manning. You're not signing Arch Manning? Nope. I would. Now, if I got Quinn Ewers as a sophomore, it makes it harder. Well, Arch Manning went there anyway. But my point is, if I've got enough separation, if I got a quarterback that I think is going to be with me one more year, and I can go get a five-star quarterback, you're darn right I'm getting that five-star quarterback. But if I've got a guy that's a sophomore and he's really good and there's a five-star out there, it'd be hard for me not to recruit him. But I could see that guy saying, I don't know about going there because you already got an established quarterback. And as you know, the quarterbacks want to start right away. But I thought it was an interesting proposition from Will Overstreet I would never sign another high school quarterback. All I would do is try to find the best quarterback I could find in the portal.
SPEAKER_00:You got to wonder how many coaches are starting to at least consider going that route as they move forward, that unless you get a sure thing. And how many of these guys are sure things? Very few. They're not sure things in the NFL draft, are they? The NFL, nobody spends more time evaluating, breaking down, dissecting quarterbacks than NFL teams. And what's their batting average? It's not very good. It's not very good. So that explains how difficult it is to evaluate at that position. Now, look, everybody wants the classic example of a quarterback who can change your program in one season way before any of this happened. was Cam Newton. Cam Newton took what would have been a 7-5 Auburn team, went 14-0, won the national championship, won the Heisman, became the number one pick in the NFL draft, and then had a very, very nice and long, productive NFL career. Became MVP one year. So everyone's looking for that kind of player, but those kind of players are so rare. And maybe it is fool's gold. Maybe you're better off going into the portal looking and not helping to develop an Arch Manning. And I'm with you. I think he's going to be really good for Steve Sarkeesian in Texas. But maybe you're better off trying to find that Cam Newton, that guy who comes in, maybe only has one year of eligibility, may only be with you for one year. Who was the quarterback of the Ohio State team that won the national championship? Was he there for four years? He was not. Will Howard came from Kansas
SPEAKER_01:State. That's right.
SPEAKER_00:Miami
SPEAKER_01:had a good year with Cam Ward, Dylan Gabriel at Oregon. We've seen guys go in as a one-year guy, plug and play, a quarterback, and they've done really well, which is kind of interesting because you hear these coaches, you know, we've got to build chemistry and he needs to learn the system. You've got to be here three years to figure all this stuff out. But we've seen some really good ones go in there. Now, having said that, we've also seen some quarterbacks that flopped under the same situation.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. Again, no guarantees at that position. Right. So as we wrap this up, Jimmy, is it fair? And I know fairness is kind of an antiquated concept nowadays. And we're talking about college athletes that are getting paid 2.4 million a year to be mediocre or whatever it was that Nico got last year at Tennessee. Although they did get to the playoff. Is it fair that he is taking so much heat as a 20 year old who clearly has a helicopter dad and pulling the strings, making the decisions, miscalculating wildly left and right. Is it fair to assign blame to him or how much blame do you assign to him and how much to the dad?
SPEAKER_01:I think it's unfair to put all the blame on Nico because I think the dad's pulling the strings. He's calling the shots. He's the one that put his son in this position. And now should Tennessee have seen this coming? Based on negotiations back in high school? That's a good question. I don't know. But I don't blame the kid as much. Now, he's public enemy number one, and so is the Amaliava family. But I put most of this on the dad. Look, I never was in a position of having an overbearing parent or having somebody that was just, hey, you have to do this, you have to do that. I never incurred that. So I'm a little bit sympathetic to somebody that goes through that, Kevin. So I put some blame on him. But I'll put most of it on his dad for what he's put his son through and using his son the way he has.
SPEAKER_00:I think that's the bottom line. Jimmy, we're going to let you go back to your semi-retirement. We appreciate you taking time to visit with us today and break down this situation. No one knows the state of Tennessee, the University of Tennessee like Jimmy Hyams. Really appreciated the conversation, Jimmy. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01:Thanks, Kevin. I appreciate it. Have a great day.
SPEAKER_00:All right. And that's going to do it for Scarbo Knows. this edition. Thank you to Brendan Martin, our outstanding producer. Thank you again to Jimmy Hyams. Thank you to all of you who are starting to grow our audience and watch and listen, follow us wherever you get podcasts on YouTube, on your favorite podcast app. You can find us everywhere. Scarborough knows we'll be back next time. Everyone have a great day.