Former Tennessee quarterback Harrison Bailey transferred from Louisville to Florida this past offseason as his final year of college football approaches. Bailey spent a year and a half at Tennessee before going to UNLV for one season in 2022. Bailey then transferred to Louisville for the 2023 and 2024 seasons and will now finish his career back in the SEC, but this time in the Sunshine State.
Bailey has gone through training camp with Florida this spring and recently competed in the Gators’ Orange and Blue spring game this past Saturday. The former Cardinal completed 29 of 43 passes for 363 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception.
After the game, Bailey spent a few moments with the media. Following several questions about the game and the Florida team, Bailey was asked if he was “surprised to see” what happened with quarterback Nico Iamaleava at Tennessee.
“Yeah, that was, um – I didn’t even know until some of the Gator fans were running up to me, telling me,” Bailey said during the Florida press conference. “It doesn’t su- eh, I don’t really know. It’s a tricky – I don’t know the full situation, so I can’t really comment too much on it. But I’ve met Nico before, and I know how Coach Heupel and the group is. They’re all great people. I have nothing negative to say about them. Maybe the situation just wasn’t right at the time and, you know, they parted ways.”
A follow-up question was then asked to Bailey, a multi-time transfer player in college football, if this is the direction that college football is heading.
“I don’t know,” Bailey responded. “I don’t know. When I first entered college, there was no such thing as the portal, which is interesting to say. Yeah, I don’t know, it’s a new day and age in college football. I’m glad I’m getting out of it. It’s helped me a lot, I will say.”
More from RTI: Social Media World Rallies Around Tennessee During Nico Iamaleava Exit Drama
While Bailey and the Gators appear to have something good going on in Gainesville, the focus here is on Tennessee and the bombshell that unfolded over the past five days in Knoxville. After a report from Pete Nakos revealed on Thursday that Nico Iamaleava’s camp was looking to renegotiate its contract with Tennessee’s NIL group, the quarterback then no-showed the Vols’ final spring practice on Friday before before the spring game on Saturday. That’s where Josh Heupel drew a line in the sand, eventually resulting in the program moving on from their own rising redshirt sophomore quarterback.
“Friday morning when he’s a no show,” Heupel said about when he knew Iamaleava would be done. “You come off the practice field and there’s no communication.”
Tennessee took the field for the Orange & White Game on Saturday with rising redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and true freshman George MacIntyre at the quarterback position. Iamaleava’s departure does leave Tennessee shorthanded this offseason, though, which could likely prompt the Vols to shop for a quarterback in the spring portal.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more notes on the Nico Iamaleava news cycle as it continues to spin this week.
To see Harrison Bailey’s full quote from the Blue and Orange game on Saturday, check out the video below (quote will automatically play):
