When quarterback Nico Iamaleava left Tennessee for UCLA, many were shocked. However, the star quarterback, whom Tennessee used to put all its hopes on, is now happy where he is, especially now that he is teaming up with his brother, Madden, over at Los Angeles.
Iamaleava had revealed that his decision to transfer back to his home in Southern California was so that he could be nearer to his family, and this was a reason he shared with Madden, who was also a transferee, this time from Arkansas. He sat down with CBS Sports for an interview and discussed what it is like teaming up with his brother.
“It’s been great, man,” he told CBS News. “Just having my little brother on my team. We played with each other most of our lives. Having him back at home with me, me being a helping hand to him in any way I can, and just seeing the person he’s grown into has been fun.”
“We were teammates his freshman year through his sophomore year, so we got to be teammates for two years in high school. He is my roommate, for sure,” he added.
In coming to UCLA, the elder Iamaleava brother is expected to be the new starting quarterback for the Bruins, given how big a transfer he was coming into the 2025 season. However, UCLA’s gain was Tennessee’s loss, with the Volunteers now struggling as their star quarterback’s leaving late in the postseason had the team scrambling for a new QB1.
Nico Iamaleava Talks About Leaving Tennessee for UCLA
Nico Iamaleava leaving Tennessee was perhaps the biggest transfer portal story of 2025, and he also talked about that fateful time in his career with the Vols during his CBS interview and how his exit from the school was handled.
Vols head coach Josh Heupel has now effectively “closed” their “Nico Chapter” over at Tennessee, though many fans are still not happy with him leaving, especially as he left Tennessee with a lot of disarray.
During his last season at Tennessee, Iamaleava played 13 games and completed 213 passes out of an attempted 334. He tallied 2616 yards and achieved 19 touchdowns. Over his 2-year career at Tennessee, Iamaleava tallied a total of 2930 yards while scoring 21 touchdowns in his career.
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