Nico Iamaleava missed a chance to expose college football’s biggest problems when he transferred from Tennessee to UCLA, according to media critics.
The former Volunteers quarterback chose to focus on media coverage rather than reveal how player recruitment really works behind the scenes.
USA Today’s Matt Hayes criticized Iamaleava’s approach in a recent opinion piece.
“He could’ve detailed how the player procurement sausage is made – recruiting, contract negotiations, predatory sports agents and their bloated fees, prove-it or lose it rosters spots, player retention and player run-off – and how, despite what Joe Sixpack thinks, players aren’t the boogeyman,” Hayes wrote.
Instead, Iamaleava talked about false media reports and outside noise.
“Instead he talked about ‘false (media) reports’ and the ‘noise’ outside his inner circle that he ignores by playing video games. He said he loved his time at Tennessee, and he just wanted to go home to Los Angeles.”
The controversy started when Iamaleava’s father attacked On3’s Peter Nakos for reporting negotiation issues between his son and Tennessee.
That response drew criticism from Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, who said Iamaleava’s team had no public relations strategy.
“Yes, Tennessee has won the P.R. battle — largely because Iamaleava’s camp hasn’t bothered to implement any real P.R. strategy at all,” Florio wrote.
Florio called Tennessee the winner in the public narrative war.
The dispute between Iamaleava and Tennessee has ended, but Hayes points to a bigger issue. University presidents continue their battle against the current college football system.
Hayes believes Iamaleava could’ve helped expose these problems but chose not to take advantage of the opportunity.
