All eyes are on Nico Iamaleava as Tennessee football approaches its highly anticipated 2024 season. Iamaleava is stepping into his first season as the Vols’ full time starting quarterback and the expectations are high for the former five-star recruit.
During a radio hit on WNML’s Josh and Swain this week, former Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer added more steam to the Iamaleava hype train entering the season.
“This young guy now, Nico is for real,” Fulmer said. “He is for real. I’ve been around a lot of good ones but this guy is really really special. We just have to keep him healthy and keep the younger ones coming too but if he stays healthy it could be a very exciting offensive football team which leads to a really exciting football team.”
As Tennessee’s former head coach, Fulmer has likely been to at least a few of the Vols practices so far this fall camp and has gotten a closer look at Tennessee’s young and talented quarterback.
Iamaleava redshirted his freshman season at Tennessee, playing off the bench in four games during the regular season before starting in the Vols’ Citrus Bowl win over Iowa.
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In the blowout win over Iowa, the 6-foot-6 quarterback completed 12-of-19 passes for 151 passing yards and one passing touchdown in addition to 27 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. Iamaleava impressed the former Tennessee head coach with how he performed in his first career start.
“They did a great job of keeping him coming and keeping him coming and giving him a chance to play and start the bowl game,” Fulmer said. “He did a super job of doing what he had to do for them to win the game and he’s got such countenance about him. He looks you in your eye and shakes your hand. He’s aware and gets in the huddle or the line of scrimmage and is in tuned. Gets everybody aligned and hopefully we’ll play like we’ve practiced and we’ll stay healthy.”
Over the course of his freshman season, Iamaleava threw for 163 yards and two touchdowns. But things ratchet up to a completely new level this season as he is the unquestioned leader of Tennessee’s offense.
Fulmer isn’t the only one that Iamaleava has impressed during fall camp. The quarterbacks teammates and coaches have frequently raved about him including offensive coordinator Joey Halzle and head coach Josh Heupel.
“I think we are going to see his play go to an even higher level, which is a scary thing to think about because just his natural ability to step on a football field and go play well is elite,” Halzle said earlier in fall camp. “Now, he’s got to go do it with live bullets for 17 straight games this year, but we’re really excited about where he’s at mentally in this process.”
