LAS VEGAS — College football’s future wore a baby blue suit, a gold pin that said “UCLA” and a pair of diamond-encrusted hoop earrings.
He glided toward the mic, sat down, then prepared for the grilling about how much money he makes, why he left Tennessee, who betrayed who when he departed, and what it all means for the college football world that his story now defines.
Bottom line: If quarterback Nico Iamaleava handles the rest of the season as well as he did with his half hour of Q&A at Big Ten media days, chances are, UCLA will be good — maybe even very good — in 2025.
“I think, it’s just, keep my head down and be humble,” the 20-year-old lightning rod of a quarterback said. “And try not to let the outside noise affect you.”
If he succeeds at that, he will have more discipline than a great majority of college football fans, experts and journalists who have filled the internet and air waves with timelines and tick-tock analysis of a decision that shook the sport and seemed to say everything about the burgeoning power players wield in a world of name, image, likeness deals and a rapidly rotating transfer portal.
The thumbnail of the story is that Iamaleava was a successful quarterback who led Tennessee to the College Football Playoff last season, then abruptly picked up stakes to head closer to home and play for UCLA.
Money seemed to be the most obvious motive.
Reports circulated that he was looking for a raise — maybe a doubling to nearly $4 million a year — to come back to the Vols. Then, one day last spring, Iamaleava missed practice. Just as abruptly, he was gone.
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel handled it diplomatically.
“Today’s landscape of college football is different than it has been,” he said. “It’s unfortunate, the situation,…
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