Heupels "Nico" 2023 plan and no transfer method

[LittleVol]

Early on in 2021 Heupel brought in Milton. Got really lucky with Hendon Hooker.
Then he decided to give 8,000,000 uSD to a high school March of 2022.

Why?

Heupel believes in building from the ground up. Getting the guys you want in HS and stop gaping needs from the portal if you need immediate help there. Because it builds a culture of when you're turn comes you have to be ready to go. But he wants them to have that time to get ready. Obviously the lineman have been different and I think Heupel wants to give them not one but two years of sitting and getting stronger before being thrown out there.

Nico started the method of RS and sitting first year by default. Then Merk did it in 2024. Mac was supposed to do it in 2025.

You saw that culture today from Arion Carter, Jake Merklinger. Miles God bless him was at Alabama before he became a Vol. He even decided to stay an extra year to help easr the burden of our young TEs.

The culture of building a legacy and having that for the rest of your life was worth Heupel spending $8,000,000 on a HS kid to be the face of Tennessee Football. That culture is adverse to the rampant "pay me" first culture that slowly degrades a team and program because guys are in and out in and out with no identity. Guys leaving a team to find playing time is different than leaving because they wanted more money. "

"Short money " some call it.

Jake and George are two nationally recruited guys at QB. Before you all think about just ditching Heupels whole philosophy (by going after another FBS starter for $2,000,000) think about how much he bet on Nico to be THE turning point. He has his RS freshman in Jake just the same as he had Nico last year. Same position. If he gets the wrong guy, then he risks throwing away all the work his plan has brought forth. Even though Nico is gone the plan is still in place. You saw that today from the players.

They need to galvanize around that because the pieces are here now. Thanks to Nico for contributing to that as well.

 

[DaddyChad]

The “face” was two faced.

 

[IUGradVol]

The “face” was two faced.

As was the face’s Dad…

 

[DaddyChad]

It’s interesting to consider what we could’ve done with that money we spent for him to sit on the bench. His NIL contract did kind of jump start the recruiting and put Heupel on the map though, I’ll give you that.

 

[MemphisVol77]

It’s interesting to consider what we could’ve done with that money we spent for him to sit on the bench. His NIL contract did kind of jump start the recruiting and put Heupel on the map though, I’ll give you that.

I'm not certain what to make of this perspective.

It's not like there was a salary cap we were almost guaranteed to max out, and we pretty much set the market (at the time) for 5 star QB recruits.

Is there a chance the money just simply wouldn't have been spent if a few boosters with deep pockets hadn't gotten excited about Nico? Is it guaranteed that the Nico money gets spent in the transfer portal or players with existing deals get a boost now?

 

[hillsborovol]

Let the name of Nico Iamaleava be stricken from every book and tablet, stricken from all pylons and obelisks, stricken from every monument in Tennessee. Let the name of Nico Iamaleava be unheard and unspoken, erased from the memory of men for all time.

 

[KTrain]

I've heard Nico was lazy on his NIL appearances and that is a red flag. One thing about Peyton Manning he got a lot of attention, but he did everything asked and more and is still giving back. Ppl that are lazy in one aspect of their duties are not big on details and looking back I can see a really talented QB that is not a hard worker. You can get by on that in HS but not when you're facing elite players. The game was to fast for Nico and he lost focus somewhere or that is just his demeanor.

 

[VAVol85]

Recruiting a top QB every year means that probably about half either don’t work out or transfer for playing time since most successful QBs are going to want 2 years as “the man”. This is where we are…Nico didn’t work out because his development wasn’t consistent with his price tag, so we move to the next QB in the progression.

 

[Model12]

Let the name of Nico Iamaleava be stricken from every book and tablet, stricken from all pylons and obelisks, stricken from every monument in Tennessee. Let the name of Nico Iamaleava be unheard and unspoken, erased from the memory of men for all time.

 

[tennesseeduke]

As was the face’s Dad…

It’s a family thing. Nico and DJ Uiungalelia are cousins! Bunch of drama queens!

 

[Budalicious]

Early on in 2021 Heupel brought in Milton. Got really lucky with Hendon Hooker.
Then he decided to give 8,000,000 uSD to a high school March of 2022.

Why?

Heupel believes in building from the ground up. Getting the guys you want in HS and stop gaping needs from the portal if you need immediate help there. Because it builds a culture of when you're turn comes you have to be ready to go. But he wants them to have that time to get ready. Obviously the lineman have been different and I think Heupel wants to give them not one but two years of sitting and getting stronger before being thrown out there.

Nico started the method of RS and sitting first year by default. Then Merk did it in 2024. Mac was supposed to do it in 2025.

You saw that culture today from Arion Carter, Jake Merklinger. Miles God bless him was at Alabama before he became a Vol. He even decided to stay an extra year to help easr the burden of our young TEs.

The culture of building a legacy and having that for the rest of your life was worth Heupel spending $8,000,000 on a HS kid to be the face of Tennessee Football. That culture is adverse to the rampant "pay me" first culture that slowly degrades a team and program because guys are in and out in and out with no identity. Guys leaving a team to find playing time is different than leaving because they wanted more money. "

"Short money " some call it.

Jake and George are two nationally recruited guys at QB. Before you all think about just ditching Heupels whole philosophy (by going after another FBS starter for $2,000,000) think about how much he bet on Nico to be THE turning point. He has his RS freshman in Jake just the same as he had Nico last year. Same position. If he gets the wrong guy, then he risks throwing away all the work his plan has brought forth. Even though Nico is gone the plan is still in place. You saw that today from the players.

They need to galvanize around that because the pieces are here now. Thanks to Nico for contributing to that as well.

I have a serious question. Was the 8 million for 4 years at 2 per. I have never heard how it was structured. Thanks

 

[bpalmer28]

Merk and GMac being recruited by Heupel is a good sign, but it doesn’t make them a slam dunk. Even the best coaches miss on evals. I don’t have an opinion because I haven’t seen them play recently, but I lean toward neither being ready in 2025. That’s based on Gaston being the backup last year and Merk looking unnatural when given the chance to play in 2024. If we don’t target a QB in the spring portal, I’ll lean the other way.

Either way think Faizon is the future.

 

[rev_vol]

Let the name of Nico Iamaleava be stricken from every book and tablet, stricken from all pylons and obelisks, stricken from every monument in Tennessee. Let the name of Nico Iamaleava be unheard and unspoken, erased from the memory of men for all time.

So let it be written, so let it be done.

 

[tombowalker]

I've heard Nico was lazy on his NIL appearances and that is a red flag.

In fairness, I have a family member who dealt with Nico in an NIL capacity. And the dude went above and beyond -- spending a couple of hours above what was contractually obligated. He was game for helping however they asked.

Take that however you want.

 

[Hank Bukowski]

Early on in 2021 Heupel brought in Milton. Got really lucky with Hendon Hooker.
Then he decided to give 8,000,000 uSD to a high school March of 2022.

Why?

Heupel believes in building from the ground up. Getting the guys you want in HS and stop gaping needs from the portal if you need immediate help there. Because it builds a culture of when you're turn comes you have to be ready to go. But he wants them to have that time to get ready. Obviously the lineman have been different and I think Heupel wants to give them not one but two years of sitting and getting stronger before being thrown out there.

Nico started the method of RS and sitting first year by default. Then Merk did it in 2024. Mac was supposed to do it in 2025.

You saw that culture today from Arion Carter, Jake Merklinger. Miles God bless him was at Alabama before he became a Vol. He even decided to stay an extra year to help easr the burden of our young TEs.

The culture of building a legacy and having that for the rest of your life was worth Heupel spending $8,000,000 on a HS kid to be the face of Tennessee Football. That culture is adverse to the rampant "pay me" first culture that slowly degrades a team and program because guys are in and out in and out with no identity. Guys leaving a team to find playing time is different than leaving because they wanted more money. "

"Short money " some call it.

Jake and George are two nationally recruited guys at QB. Before you all think about just ditching Heupels whole philosophy (by going after another FBS starter for $2,000,000) think about how much he bet on Nico to be THE turning point. He has his RS freshman in Jake just the same as he had Nico last year. Same position. If he gets the wrong guy, then he risks throwing away all the work his plan has brought forth. Even though Nico is gone the plan is still in place. You saw that today from the players.

They need to galvanize around that because the pieces are here now. Thanks to Nico for contributing to that as well.

I don’t know…half of me says “adapt to the new reality or perish” and the other half digs in my old-school heels and says “we only want the kids and families who want to be here.” I’m pretty much digging in my heels at this point.

 

[Other_Guy]

In fairness, I have a family member who dealt with Nico in an NIL capacity. And the dude went above and beyond -- spending a couple of hours what was contractually obligated. He was game for helping however they asked.

Take that however you want.

Perhaps he is the type that is very helpful but needs to be told what to do. Some people are willing but you gotta almost hold their hand. I know we're talking about obligations, but we've all seen those guys at work who do what they're told but you have to stay on them with tasks. Seems like a nice guy that would do what was asked.

 

[xpsyclonex2002]

Real simple. 3-5 high paid players aren't going to get a NC. Take Nico's money and find 3-5 players at positions of need and build depth. Send a message to the team that if you get greedy, we'll replace you with 2 guys.

 

[KTrain]

Merk and GMac being recruited by Heupel is a good sign, but it doesn’t make them a slam dunk. Even the best coaches miss on evals. I don’t have an opinion because I haven’t seen them play recently, but I lean toward neither being ready in 2025. That’s based on Gaston being the backup last year and Merk looking unnatural when given the chance to play in 2024. If we don’t target a QB in the spring portal, I’ll lean the other way.

Either way think Faizon is the future.

A difference is Gaston was recruited as a G5 backup at UCF. He followed Hype to UT to be a backup that already knew the system. He was not rated anywhere near Merk or Gmac. They will get a portal QB but he will compete for the job like Joe did when he came from Michigan, he won by the eyeball but the coaches were wrong that time Hendon was a gamer.

 

[tombowalker]

Perhaps he is the type that is very helpful but needs to be told what to do. Some people are willing but you gotta almost hold their hand. I know we're talking about obligations, but we've all seen those guys at work who do what they're told but you have to stay on them with tasks. Seems like a nice guy that would do what was asked.

Yeah. I was impressed when I was told the story. He was on the premises for other reasons, but ended up hanging out with a bunch of kids for a couple of hours.

Sorry about being vague. Didn't want to get my bro in trouble for talking out of turn.