Oregon Ducks coach Dan Lanning was surprisingly reportedly mentioned in the Nico Iamaleava drama with the Tennessee Volunteers earlier this offseason. The former five-star quarterback eventually hit the transfer portal and committed to the UCLA Bruins.

UCLA bringing in Iamaleava, and the situation with transfer wideout Kaedin Robinson — who made public record his $500,000 NIL deal in an effort to successfully sue the NCAA for eligibility this season — signals that the Bruins, who went 3-6 in league play in their first year in the Big Ten, are now in the game.

Three months after Nico Iamaleava left Tennessee for UCLA and shook the college football world amidst the most significant contract dispute in the NIL era, the star quarterback finally broke his silence.

Bruins football head coach and alum DeShaun Foster has a positive outlook entering his second season leading the program. This offseason, UCLA secured the No. 1 transfer prospect available, quarterback Nico Iamaleava out of Tennessee.

And now, more details about his fallout with the Vols has been revealed via college football insider Kirk Herbstreit in his latest appearance on the Try That Small Town Podcast.

Iamaleava reportedly threatened to sit out the playoff game to renegotiate his contract, reportedly reached out to other programs to gauge their interest in him transferring there and apparently had his father telling head coach Josh Heupel to build a better team around him.

There have been several rumors as to why Nico Iamaleava really left Tennessee. It was the money, it was the lack of an offensive line, but now the truth has really come to light and it brings a whole other side to the NIL era,

Coach Lincoln Riley leads the Trojans into a season of high expectations, while transfer quarterback Nico Iamaleava is set to make his debut with the Bruins.