Lane Kiffin Hints at Tennessee Commit Nico Iamaleava To Explain NIL Concerns

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin recently spoke to Rich Eisen about the state of college football on The Rich Eisen Show last week. Kiffin and Tennessee have been in the news together a few times recently. Both were at the center of October’s controversial ending on the football field in Knoxville, and Kiffin threw the honorary first pitch before Ole Miss’ baseball series with Tennessee in Oxford last month.

Kiffin could be found talking about Tennessee again last Friday. Although, this time, pointing to an unnamed Tennessee recruit to help get his overall point of why NIL and the transfer portal are still beasts yet to be tamed.

“You’re going to have all these locker room dynamics where now you’re reading, you got a player coming into school over there in East Tennessee for $8 million dollars that hasn’t played a down,” Kiffin said while responding to a question about NIL and the transfer portal. “And you’ve got a locker room saying, ‘Wait, now what if the guy doesn’t play? How’s that going to work? How is that donor going to feel, that paid all that money, when the guy’s not playing?’ So you’ve got a lot of things that haven’t been figured out at all.”

Kiffin was very likely referring to Tennessee’s highest-ranked commit, Nico Iamaleava, who is currently listed as the third-ranked quarterback in the class of 2023. Iamaleava, a five-star prospect, committed to Tennessee in late March. Additionally, just about 10 days before Iamaleava’s commitment, The Athletic broke a story referring to an unnamed player in the recruiting class that had already “signed a deal to be compensated $8 million for his name, image and likeness.” While the story did not name any player in specific, some have speculated that it could be Iamaleava, but nothing has been confirmed to this day.

The full quote from Kiffin, referring to the East Tennessee commit, is as follows:

“I think you’ve seen a few of them, most of the times, people are going in [the transfer portal] because they’re not happy where they’re at or want to play at a bigger level. We have started to see a few at places, you know, it’s not they weren’t unhappy, they just figured this out like, ‘Hey, I can maybe come back where I’m at but let me see what I can get paid.’ And you’re going to have all these locker room dynamics where now you’re reading, you got a player coming into school over there in East Tennessee for $8 million dollars that hasn’t played a down. And you’ve got a locker room saying, ‘Wait, now what if the guy doesn’t play? How’s that going to work? How is that donor going to feel, that paid all that money, when the guy’s not playing?’ So you’ve got a lot of things that haven’t been figured out at all.”

See Also from RTI: BREAKING – Tennessee Lands No. 1 Player In the Volunteer State

In addition to hinting at Nico Iamaleava, Lane Kiffin also used Alabama quarterback Bryce Young as an example of how players can control all the chips when in the transfer portal. A player like Bryce Young, who helped lead Alabama to a National Championship appearance, could legitimately raise his value by testing the waters.

“I’m for that the kids make money,” Kiffin said. “It’s just there’s no, I said it from day one … There’s no real contracts on a lot of it, they’re not necessarily locked in, so technically, everybody could be a free agent every year. And really, if you’re great, I mean, think how messed up the system is. If you’re a great player, you’re Bryce Young after the National Championship last year, you should go in the portal. Even if you want to stay at Alabama because all you’ll do is drive up your price there because then the collectives there will suddenly come up with a lot of money to keep you. So what would any player do that could opt into a free agency every year? They would do it. Test the market. Get the most they could.”

In a lot of ways, Lane Kiffin is exactly right when it comes to the unknowns of what both the transfer portal and NIL could do to college football. In many ways, the most potentially shocking moments could come when those two forces combine. Using the example that Kiffin had, a player like Bryce Young could use the transfer portal to thus continue to raise his NIL value. It’s a sticky situation.

When it comes to players getting paid, there are countless local deals that have happened in the last year that show the beneficial side of it for all parties involved. Former Tennessee football players Theo Jackson and Matthew Butler had their own burger creations at Mooyah Burgers, Alontae Taylor routinely fired up Vol Nation after an interception thanks to Moonshine Mountain Cookie Company, and even Tennessee baseball catcher Evan Russell now has a Weigel’s inspired baseball shirt jersey to purchase. All of those examples seem like the true and non-controversial intention for how players will be paid.

When the speculation rises to the level that it is already approaching is when things get confusing and convoluted. In reality, college football is still in a very early stage with this whole process. A large amount of the moves being made over the next few years could somewhat imply trial and error, thus learning the process as it’s unfolding.

The full quote from Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin referencing the East Tennessee player can be found below.