Mario Cristobal Backs Tennessee’s Call On Nico Iamaleava, Slams NIL Drama
One of the big controversial topics surrounding NCAA college football in recent years has been NIL deals and the transfer portal. We saw major controversy with UNLV Rebels quarterback Matthew Sluka last season, and just recently, we saw the Tennessee Volunteers cut ties with starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
The quarterback reportedly wanted to renegotiate his NIL deal and became a disruption to the team. So Volunteers' head coach, Josh Heupel, decided to cut ties with the talented quarterback and said that “no one is bigger than the program”. Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal was asked about the controversy at the team's annual spring game on Saturday and sounded like he agreed with Huepel's decision:
“I think you stay real, and you stay true to the program and make the decisions that are best for the program,” Cristobal said. “Again, we mentioned the other day … everybody’s in the [transfer] portal, and the portal’s always open. You don’t want to believe me? It’s always open. Everybody’s in it. So, it all depends on what you’re willing to accept. Where are you going to draw the line in your program? You’ve got to realize something: once you allow that to happen, and you agree to it, well, prepare for a line of 80 guys doing the same thing ... We’re not going to do that at Miami, and I say that without any hesitation. If anyone’s thinking that and they could be the best player in the world, if they want to play holdout, they might as well play get out. We don’t want to do that, and we don’t want Miami to become that. Too many guys have sweated, bled, [and] have laid it on the line on that field to ever become that type of program. I hope that answers the question.”
Recommended Articles
Miami Dolphins Star Jaelan Phillips Returns To His Alma Mater To Surprise A Few Lucky Students
Mark Morales-Smith is a father of five, a former college football scout and semi-pro football player. Morales-Smith is a long-time competitive fantasy football player with well over a decade of professional writing experience at multiple high-level sites.
