Josh Heupel was frustrated with Nico Iamaleava as a coach. But he was furious with him as a quarterback because Heupel would've handled it differently.

Iamaleava and his representatives reportedly first asked Tennessee in January, one day before the close of college football's winter transfer portal window, for his NIL contract to increase, but the university declined to do so. The signal-caller asked to be paid $4 million per year, according to multiple reports.

Iamaleava, a potential first-round NFL Draft pick in 2026, wanted to renegotiate his multi-year, $10 million NIL deal with the school, according to ESPN. Tennessee became aware that Iamaleava’s camp had reached out to Oregon about a potential transfer, the report said.