ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit provided his two cents on the ugly divorce between quarterback Nico Iamaleava and Tennessee – insisting that the NCAA has a major problem on its hands.
There will be a lot of change off the field in college football next season with Bill Belichick at North Carolina and his girlfriend already turning heads at practice, one of Herbstreit’s legendary ESPN colleagues announcing his retirement and a FOX Sports announcer also leaving the booth. But on the field there will also be a lot of changes, including at the quarterback position.
Last weekend, Iamaleava sent shockwaves across the college football landscape after parting ways with the Volunteers as NIL contract negotiations between the two sides grew ugly. Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel informed his players on Saturday that the 20-year-old would no longer be with the program – just one day after he skipped practice and couldn’t be reached.
Since entering his name into the transfer portal, Iamaleava has been snubbed by several programs including Notre Dame and North Carolina.
Iamaleava’s departure stemmed from a disagreement with his contract, which was said to be worth approximately $10 million including his earnings in high school and college. The five-star recruit was said to be making $2.4 million per season, but wanted to increase his annual earnings to around $4 million.
While making an appearance on ‘The Pat McAfee Show,’ Herbstreit took issue with the fact that nobody seems to have control over the developing unprecedented situation regarding Iamaleava. “One thing I continue to think about is if the NFL has an issue, Roger Goodell, the owners, the NFLPA, there’s a CBA… they work things out,” he said.
“They create the CBA and there’s grounds of understanding what the rules and regulations are. Who is that in college football? You tell me. Is it the conference commissioners? Is it the presidents?
“Everybody wants to blame the NCAA. They have zero power. They have no power over the sport. Who’s running the sport? Who are we supposed to file these complaints to? Who’s supposed to make change? I have no idea who that is.”
(Image: Getty Images)
In the new era of college football where six-figure NIL deals and transfer portal offers reign supreme, Herbstreit expressed concern that there still are no rules or regulations in place. “I think most people I’ve talked to have kind of come to grips with NIL, with understanding that players are being paid and that’s kind of part of the world,” he said. “I think the gripe or the concern is not having any rules or regulations.
“The fact that people are coming out saying that players are talking about, in the first portal, threatening to leave if they don’t get what they want and maybe even skipping bowl games or the playoff. And now having a player like this try to hold his team hostage even though he’s paid pretty handsomely and he decides – not he, but his team decides, ‘Hey, you’ve got to give us what we need.’”
Addressing Iamaleava’s surprise exit, Heupel told the Vol Network at Saturday’s spring game: “Man, listen. It’s the state of college football. At the end of the day, no one is ever bigger than the program. That includes me too. And we’ve got an opportunity, we’ve got a bunch of guys that are going to give their all for Tennessee. And we move forward. We’ve got a great group, let’s go compete.”
The sentiment resonated with Herbstreit, who said: “I applaud Josh Heupel for standing up. And not because players don’t deserve to be paid. But because of how this unfolded and the timing of it.”
- Source: NEWHD MEDIA
