Alabama coach asked about Nico Iamaleava saga at Tennessee

Admin April 23, 2025

Alabama football’s defensive coordinator Kane Wommack was asked about the Nico Iamaleava saga at Tennessee as a guest on 105.5 WNSP out of Mobile on Tuesday.

Iamaleava has been one of the most talked about college athletes in recent weeks. He departed from Tennessee and entered the transfer portal after serving as the Vols starting quarterback due to what should be considered contradicting reports from his family and media outlets. Multiple outlets reported there were NIL earning issues behind the decision while Iamaleava’s family has shared that Tennessee’s offensive scheme played a role in the move.

When asked about the situation, Wommack provided an outlook on how a valuable player entering the transfer portal in the spring could hurt a team in a major way.

“I do think this, these young men are trying I think to probably do what they think is best for themselves,” Wommack said. “And I think we all should go reach our dreams and chase our dreams, but just not at the expense of others. And I don’t have a right answer, and I’m not speaking any one situation, but I think people should follow their path and follow their dreams and do what’s best for them and their families as long as it’s not at deep expense to other people. I do think that there does put a bit of a strain in the spring transfer portal window that you’ve already began the approach and when you take those reps in Spring ball and then you’re not there to to follow through on those reps in the fall, I think that hurts your team. I do think that maybe we need to look at that window specifically and see if we can figure out a way to navigate that better to where, there is a time of what the NFL has free agency, and there’s a time of building your roster. And once that roster is built, you know that you’re going to have it barring any injuries. And right now we don’t have that because of the spring transfer window. That’s something we need to look at.”

Alabama has not lost a scholarship player to the transfre portal as of noon central on April 22.

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