The Tennessee Volunteers are building up to a great season in 2025. They have the right prospects in their pipeline, including the 5-star offensive tackle David Sanders Jr. Defensive lineman Isaiah Campbell, and tight end DaSaahn Brame, who are top-ranked in their positions nationally are also in the Vols fam. The problem then?

Well, none till now, except they will need their quarterback Nico Iamaleava to step up in the 2025 season and deliver. Sure, he had a 63.8% pass completion rate in the 2024 season with 2,616 passing yards and 358 rushing yards. But is that the best he can do? Eric Cain of Locked on Vols provided an update as to how the QB is improving over his offseason practices: “I did see, you know, when I was over there watching routes on air, I thought Nico looked sharp for the most part. It was a typical first day, and the ball was on the ground some. I mean, the timing was off at points, and there were some drops, but again, that is typical day-one stuff. But I thought Nico looked pretty good, specifically with the outs and a couple of Slants that looked really, really good.“

That’s just the first day of his spring practice, and if the player can continue doing and working hard over the course of the spring practice, then the future looks bright for the Vols. Despite all the criticisms of various analysts and journalists, it seems the player is doing best within his rights. Some even went as far as to say that the player has hit his ceiling potential. That’s hard, right?

Still, he had some of the glaring issues on which he will need to work. Furthermore, the offensive line will also need to protect the QB a bit more as he looked susceptible to sacking on various occasions. Especially in that Ohio State game in which he was sacked 4 times. He will also need to work on his downfield accuracy, pocket presence, and ball handling a bit more this spring. In that regard, Tennessee HC Josh Heupel does have a challenge for the QB.

Josh Heupel unimpressed with Nico Iamaleava?

We all know Coach Heupel’s offensive schemes and his signature brand of football. But lately, it has been quite difficult for him to implement the same in his offensive schemes. Partly because of his quarterback, but also because of the receiver room that the Vols have right now. Still, in that regard, they managed a decent 10-3 last season. That being said, Josh Heupel did challenge Iamaleava in his recent statement.

When answering the questions about Iamaleava being the game-changer for the Vols going into the 2025 season, the head coach didn’t mince any words. “Command and control of what we’re doing offensively, better with his eyes,  fundamental position to be accurate with the football, you know, leadership it’s the checklist of playing the quarterback position; all those things you know. He’s got a chance to continue to get better at like a lot of what he did. There are some areas that that I was just talking about that he can be better at; and as a quarterback a big part of your job is creating urgency for the 10 guys around you to play at a really high“.

Well, Heupel’s statement means just one thing he wants quite a lot more from his quarterback, and that’s his leadership qualities – an integral aspect of being the signal caller. And we have seen over the years QBs being successful because they were huge leaders in their squad. Nico Iamaleava also needs to take up that mantle now and show why he deserves all the praise, especially after that $8 million deal he signed with the Vols.