It seems pretty clear he visited Tennessee during the Alabama game in 22. He saw Jalin Hyatt and the offense running up and down the field and decided that's where he wanted to be.
Then last year and this year happened AND he wasn't sure what was happening with Nico so he got his name submitted to give him time to "let it marinate".
So if the offense was going in the same direction as the past 2 years and Nico put his name in the portal he was gonna leave too. Evidently he got answers. It plainly said it was never about money.