Lucas Panzica analyzes why more Tennessee Volunteers didn't enter the transfer portal in the wake of Nico Iamaleava's departure.
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00:00The spring transfer portal window is officially closed seven Tennessee players entered their name
00:05and I think there was a pretty clear statement made by this football team
00:09by the players that did not go in we'll talk about it next
00:12hey Lucas Panzeca here from 104.5 the zone and A to Z sports so seven players going into the portal
00:20after spring practice in that 10-day spring portal window they are of course as we know
00:26headlined by quarterback Nico Iamaliava who goes to UCLA in a highly publicized contract dispute
00:33with the University of Tennessee over an NIL figure we don't need to rehash that entire situation the
00:39other six players that have hit the portal for Tennessee are offensive lineman Aiden Bustle
00:43offensive lineman Larry Johnson three defensive backs in John Slaughter Christian Charles and
00:49Jacoby Thomas as well as wide receiver Dayton Sneed who transfers to UNC now when you look
00:56look at those players that went in not a lot of high impact guys that Tennessee is set to lose
01:02for 2025 really the biggest one you look at is Jacoby Thomas maybe the biggest surprise of this group
01:08of players former MTSU transfer who figured to play a starting role in Tennessee's defensive backfield
01:14next season but he is on the way out and then a guy like Larry Johnson who was probably gonna battle
01:20for the five-star freshman or with the five-star freshman David Sanders Jr. for presumably the
01:26starting right tackle spot opposite Lance Hurd at left tackle Larry Johnson on the way out perhaps that
01:32is a sign that David Sanders Jr. did enough in spring practice to make it seem like he is gonna be the guy
01:39at right tackle for Tennessee in 2025 which again is a positive development for the Vols if that is the case
01:46and then of course Nico Iamaliava now I will say when the news initially broke from Pete Nacos of
01:52on three sports that Nico Iamaliava was in a contract negotiation with Tennessee and then of course the
01:58next 48 hours escalated and next thing you knew Josh Heupel saying Tennessee is moving on spring ball is
02:04over Nico is in the portal my biggest concern was that if Nico hits the transfer portal there could be a
02:10mass exodus of players that follow high-level impact players like wide receiver Mike Matthews who we know
02:17for a fact considered entering the transfer portal in the winter window after the conclusion of the
02:22regular season like Boo Carter the defensive back who got some run on offense in the spring who also
02:28considered entering the portal in the winter window I thought if players like that that are affected
02:34by the quarterback position lose their guy Nico Iamaliava they very well could go look for greener
02:40pastures to find a spot with a more stable quarterback situation there are wide receiver needs all over the
02:47country certainly somebody with the talent profile of Mike Matthews could have found a landing spot with
02:53probably a pretty good NIL figure but neither of those players left they both stayed in fact most of
02:59Tennessee skill position players stayed on campus with the exception of course of Dayton Sneed a depth
03:06guy who was not going to get any run in this Tennessee offense anyway really the biggest impact of Dayton
03:11Sneed transferring to UNC is the fact that his brother Carson Sneed the highly recruited tight end out of
03:17Nashville is committed to the Vols and who knows if that will impact his recruitment but that certainly
03:22would be the biggest impact of Sneed's departure if any so I think it's telling that Mike Matthews
03:29Boo Carter really the majority of Tennessee's starting lineup on offense remained in Knoxville
03:34even after Nico left I don't know if that speaks to Nico's leadership or lack thereof it was a big
03:41talking point for us Nico trying to grow as a leader for the Vols in 2025 but I can't help but think back
03:47to that press conference with Myles Kitzelman, Arian Carter, Jake Merklinger, and George McIntyre after the
03:53spring game Myles Kitzelman with how fired up he was with just how Tennessee's roster seemed to come
04:01together in a way that we hadn't quite seen yet that publicly in the hypo era after their quarterback
04:07left them in the dust so to speak and Tennessee I think made a statement that maybe Nico did not have
04:14a stronghold on this locker room that he was such a high level impact player from a relationship
04:20standpoint that him leaving would cause other players to leave I thought it was telling that
04:25there was not that exodus that I feared there could be when Nico went into the portal obviously
04:30it's a very positive thing for the Vols now they'll look to continue to add the portal is closed that
04:35just means players cannot go into it Tennessee can absolutely still add players that are currently in
04:41the transfer portal and you'd expect them to add at least a wide receiver for the 2025 season
04:47ironically Nico Iamaliava's family wanted Tennessee to do a lot of things they wanted Tennessee to pay
04:53Nico more money they wanted Tennessee to add more wide receivers and now that Nico's gone a couple
04:58million dollars just freed up and Tennessee's got a little extra money to add the receivers that maybe
05:03Nico's camp wanted funny how things come around in that way so the Vols can still make some moves
05:08but I don't think we should ignore the fact that when Nico went out the door most of Tennessee's core
05:14stayed put in Knoxville to me it says something about the current culture inside of that building
05:19led of course by head coach Josh Heupel