Tennessee turning to college football transfer portal to replace Nico Iamaleava. The irony.

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said “no one is bigger than the” program, explaining why the Vols were moving on from money-hungry starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava. In the next breath, Heupel explained that the Vols would pursue a transfer quarterback to fill the void created by Iamaleava’s departure.

Tennessee would benefit from another starting quarterback leaving his team after spring practice, entering the transfer portal and pursuing greener pastures.

In other words, Tennessee seeks a Nico to replace Nico.

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel walks on the field before his team’s game against Kent State at Neyland Stadium, in Knoxville, Tenn., Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024.
Here comes another round of the transfer sweepstakes, as coaches line up to make an acquisition they hope will help their roster.

The transfer portal opened Wednesday, igniting college football’s second free-agency period in a span of four months. Coaches find the lack of roster control that accompanies multiple transfer windows to be a maddening situation, but their actions contribute to this situation.

It’s simple supply and demand. If coaches showed no demand for transfers in this April free-agency period, the supply would dry up.

Iamaleava isn’t the only player leaving a team in a lurch this spring. To wit, California’s All-America running back Jaydn Ott hit the portal, and Oklahoma quickly poached him.

Iamaleava stood to make more than $2 million this season from Tennessee’s NIL collective, but he sought to sweeten his deal. He reportedly wanted $4 million. Tennessee wouldn’t cave to that figure, and Iamaleava skipped practice Friday, skipped Tennessee’s spring game and entered the transfer portal.

How to curtail these types of situations in the future?

Well, what if no coach offers Iamaleava a lifeline and he withers in the portal? This would signal that coaches refuse to play the game of starting quarterbacks leaving their teams after spring practice. And what if Heupel had announced Saturday that Jake Merklinger, Iamaleava’s trusty backup, would be Tennessee’s starter, instead of announcing that he’s going transfer shopping?

If those actions happened, it might make the next quarterback think twice before pulling this maneuver.