Anyone heard about this with Nico and parents

#52
#52
Oldvoldad said:
Yes. It is. On the flip side though, if a kid isn't playing up to their value. There is a massive door to the portal they can be shown to.
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I think this is where coaches have to show their worth. Nico has 5* arm strength and athletic ability, but probably 2* intangibles. It is very possible that he can improve on this and I'm pulling for him. However, if he has great success next year doesn't guarantee he stays a vol. It may come down to if we're willing to pay him to stay.
 
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#53
#53
GAVol said:
That’s the whole problem with NIL and fans. This is the way stuff happens everyday, but fans will take it personally every single time and lament things being out of control. Yet, they’d do the exact same thing if they had leverage.
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Seen a lot of "Wow - someone has one decent year and wants more money." Not just here, but a bunch of places. Didn't know there were that many commies out there.

In what other context would these people say this?
 
#54
#54
tnmarktx said:
Why? Just have loyalty to your team. The only thing that worries me about the power of the players in this NIL era is that coaches will capitulate to players and change their philosophy in coaching. Good coaches, are paid to coach because that have the ability to do so. College football players don't know more that the coaches do. If I'm Heupel, I get the other qb's ready to take over ASAP. There's really no loyalty and none should be expected. The days of fans of individual players will become rare and that's OK imo.
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The era of college football you're talking about didn't disappear with NIL. It disappeared, at the latest, in the early 80s and you can argue some time before that.

It certainly hasn't been around since big television money entered the sport in the 1980s. You can argue it hasn't been around since playing professional football began to pay better than well-paying "regular" jobs in the 1950s and 1960s.
 
#55
#55
I'll never blame someone for maximizing their value. As a fan it's terrible because we have massive loyalty and emotional investment in our teams. The current state of NIL removes that loyalty from players and they will wear the uniform that gives them the best deal.

Major college athletics is now a professional sport. Contracts will need to have teeth to prevent a lot of the churn we are seeing. My assumption is no one will sign with a school writing contracts like that so the Wild West it is until some sort of regulation happens.

My personal choice is root for the "T" and whoever is in Orange that year. No expectations on who is there next year.
 
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#56
#56
GAVol said:
As the old adage goes . . . people are as loyal as their options and players have gone from a couple of limited choices to a veritable buffet.
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While we are on the topic of loyalty, it is fascinating to me when people lament the "current state of college football", "mercenary players", "no need to buy jerseys with a name on the back anymore", "it's becoming just like the NFL", etc. Yet when there are rumors of Bru McCoy potentially returning, who is a guy that has been nothing but the definition of "VFL" ever since he got here and worked his butt off to return after what could have easily been a career ending type injury, some of those same folks make statements like "I don't want him to take targets away from the younger guys" or "I think it's time to move on" because his stats coming off the injury didn't meet their standard. Additionally, when guys like Jackson Lampley or Dayne Davis, who have been nothing but loyal to this program, fail to meet the performance standard these fans have for them, they are trashed and people act like they should never again see the field. I think some of these fans need to take a long, hard look in the mirror before referring to players as mercenaries.
 
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#57
#57
OrangeBeachVol said:
Shame this is where the NIL is going right now. Controls are badly needed.
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Per sources to xxxxxx and confirmed by Will West of The Sports Animal, Iamaleava’s family, not Nico, lobbied for more money following the season than they had previously been promised when he was recruited from California in the Vols’ 2023 class. In the NIL era, contracts are about as helpful as a missed pass block on the field. Sure, they’re there, but they’re just a whiff of what could have been.

One has to wonder if the Vols should have let Iamaleava walk and spent the massive amount of money he’s costing Tennessee on other positions, either to keep current players, like receiver Mike Matthews, who also reportedly asked for a raise, to keep current Vols in their current roles or go get transfers to bolster the roster.

Would you rather have a handful of good players or a pretty good quarterback? That was the quandary, especially since the Vols are currently trying to bring NIL spending in-house and, hopefully, stick to some sort of NIL budget. That has been a challenge.

Per sources, Iamaleava’s family was the driving force behind the forced raise, and he felt caught in the middle. There is absolutely no indication that Iamaleava is anything but a perfect teammate, but agents and parents do what agents and parent do. They look out for their own, even if it is to a fault.
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Money isn’t costing Tennessee it’s his NIL contract through SPRYE
 
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#58
#58
05_never_again said:
The era of college football you're talking about didn't disappear with NIL. It disappeared, at the latest, in the early 80s and you can argue some time before that.

It certainly hasn't been around since big television money entered the sport in the 1980s. You can argue it hasn't been around since playing professional football began to pay better than well-paying "regular" jobs in the 1950s and 1960s.
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I'm not fully sure I get your meaning. I would say that players have been getting paid for awhile now. Not to take anything away from "Alabama Jones'" coaching prowess, but if you considered paying players dirty before NIL he ran probably one of the dirtiest programs. That's why he most likely left coaching.
 
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#59
#59
tnmarktx said:
I'm not fully sure I get your meaning. I would say that players have been getting paid for awhile now. Not to take anything away from "Alabama Jones'" coaching prowess, but if you considered paying players dirty before NIL he ran probably one of the dirtiest programs. That's why he most likely left coaching.
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You said to have loyalty to your team. That hasn't been a concept that is widespread in the sport since the 80s at the latest. There are exceptions of course, but the majority of guys are where they are because they think it gives them the best chance to get to the NFL. If those circumstances change, then they want to leave.

The Portal is actually the sea change, not NIL.
 
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#61
#61
titansvolsfaninga said:
New world? The world has always been kept spinning by money. If you don't like college students getting paid for their gifts, just say so. You want the schools, administrators, and the higher ups to get the money. Let the poor stay poor and let's protect the rich, because one day we will be rich too! /s
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Rather than making blanket statements about my feelings, you might want to consider all facets of the situation. Obviously you haven’t paid attention to what I’ve said in the past. I don’t mind the players getting a share of the pie. The money is being made off their labor. What I don’t like:
-Agents/relatives/players extorting the university for more money after they made an agreement. It’s only a matter of time before a player decides to strike mid-season or even at halftime.
-Tampering during the season by other schools.
-Players transferring 3,4 and even 5 times in 3 years.
- A playoff team like UT losing several role players to the portal BEFORE the playoff game. Non-playoff teams (like Oklahoma) losing 20 players before a bowl game. Not sure why they should even play a bowl game under those circumstances.
- Turning the college game into NFL Lite. If I wanted to root for a team full of mercenaries, I’d find an NFL team.
- Going into this new world with very little thought, rules or guidelines. That is a recipe for anarchy and it’s what we have now. That rarely turns out well.

I certainly don’t know what the answer is. But if you don’t think those are issues, then I can’t help you and there’s no sense discussing it.
 
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#63
#63
05_never_again said:
You said to have loyalty to your team. That hasn't been a concept that is widespread in the sport since the 80s at the latest. There are exceptions of course, but the majority of guys are where they are because they think it gives them the best chance to get to the NFL. If those circumstances change, then they want to leave.

The Portal is actually the sea change, not NIL.
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So the majority of players in college football, a sport from which only ~ 1.5% make it to the NFL, are all picking their schools because of NFL aspirations?

Because it sure would seem like the 5% that think they'll make it to the NFL are the exception. Or, let's be generous. Maybe 10-20% think they'll make it to the league? But a majority?
 
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#66
#66
GoVols64 said:
I'll never blame someone for maximizing their value. As a fan it's terrible because we have massive loyalty and emotional investment in our teams. The current state of NIL removes that loyalty from players and they will wear the uniform that gives them the best deal.

Major college athletics is now a professional sport. Contracts will need to have teeth to prevent a lot of the churn we are seeing. My assumption is no one will sign with a school writing contracts like that so the Wild West it is until some sort of regulation happens.

My personal choice is root for the "T" and whoever is in Orange that year. No expectations on who is there next year.
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As fans, we simply need to only look in the mirror to find out why all this happened. We want college football to be a key hub of our lives. So we have proven, so far, there us no limit to what we will pay for that. Stop paying and this will stop in its tracks. But we aren't going to do that and the businesses surrounding college football know it. I find it ironic that we complain how horrible it is now, but at the same time we open our wallets wider and wider to enable it.
 
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#67
#67
utvolpj said:
Is Will West usually one breaking this kind of info? Not sure i remember him being an insider

True or not, he's not helping UT football with this mess. So glad our local media is on our side
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I sure do miss Wilkerson in the afternoon. I can’t listen to Will and his Buddy. Guess it is the new snarky driven way, but I have to switch the car radio to oldies.
 
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#68
#68
I would have let him walk if that’s what they wanted to do. The guy got 2 million to sit on the bench all year and then another 2 million to stink up the joint for most of the season. If he thinks he’s too good to play at Tennessee for 2 million dollars a year, then so be it. If recruiting rankings weren’t a thing and you never heard a peep about any players until you saw them play, there’s no way this dude would be getting paid the kind of money he is making as is
 
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#69
#69
GUNTERSVOL said:
I sure do miss Wilkerson in the afternoon. I can’t listen to Will and his Buddy. Guess it is the new snarky driven way, but I have to switch the car radio to oldies.
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Yeah, it turned into exactly the sort of sports talk show I don't like listening to. Car commercial ad reads, weird commentary, and lots of casual segments where everyone just laughs at each other's comments. Very common in modern sports media, but not very compelling most of the time.
 
#72
#72
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
Nobody is forcing you to pay them. This is what a pure free market looks like. If yall don't like it then say you got a problem with capitalism.

Nico's family did nothing wrong. Everyone of us would do the same if we had leverage. Blame the people who are caving into the demands of the athletes rather than the athletes themselves. They're doing nothing wrong by trying to get as much money as they can.
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They???? Isn't Nico the one at risk of seriously bodily injury? Family is family, but the reality is that it isn't their business. But then again I guess it's his obligation to support them all.
 
#75
#75
GUNTERSVOL said:
I sure do miss Wilkerson in the afternoon. I can’t listen to Will and his Buddy. Guess it is the new snarky driven way, but I have to switch the car radio to oldies.
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With everything going on in the sports world over the past few. months, they spend more time on start, bench, cut on nonsport related topics than they do on play offs, UT basketball, etc. No matter what the other two choices are, I would cut the Beavis and Butthead show on the animal from 3-7.
 
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