Finebaum weighs in on the Uncle Nico saga

[C-south]

Ryan Clark said F the fans, they don’t matter.

 

[Doctrippin]

Honestly asking because I hadn't seen it......are there talking heads saying we're to blame? Just curious.....heck, there are Florida fans down here who have told me Tennessee is doing the right thing........its weird.

Gators did the same thing with a TE who was demanding 45K a month and guaranteed playing time. He's at LSU now

 

[Doctrippin]

How many of those 20 year olds are the cash cow of an entire family where I don’t even think the dad works anymore as he instead sells his son?

Nico holds all the power so if even in his culture he’s that much of a pus$ we don’t need him and he will be an idiot the rest of his life! So yeah I’ve seen 20 year olds cut off their parents before, child actors have done it many times while their parents squandered their money, so yeah, he needs to stand up for himself and do what’s best for him and not just his family, if he can’t do that he will never be a leader you can trust in to get the job done and done right! For all his supposed talent, it can all be squandered by his stupid decisions and lack of leadership.

His little brother also got a 7 figure deal now, so another son to grift

 

[WillisWG]

'I would stay away' from Nico Iamaleava in transfer portal, Paul Finebaum warns

Nico Iamaleava may be the biggest name in college football’s spring transfer portal window, but Paul Finebaum thinks any school interested in going after the qu

www.si.com

“I would stay away from him,” Finebaum said on WJOX Radio. “Buyer beware of this guy.”

“It’s not even Nico. It’s the whole apparatus. I mean, you’re not dealing... Something tells me Nico is not personally in the middle of these negotiations. Team Nico is,” he added.

“There is a toxic feeling about this player because of the attention and because he is the one that everyone is talking about. And I would be very careful.”

 

[volfan102455]

His little brother also got a 7 figure deal now, so another son to grift

Round 2 for some school I guess.

 

[Vol737]

It's only a matter of time, if it hasn't already happened, that kids or their handlers will threaten to sit out of big games or playoff games if their demands aren't met. I doubt coaches worth their salt, including Kirby, would put up with it, but I could see some others doing so.

Then clawbacks should be worked into their NIL contracts if they sit out, OR they’re paid on a per game basis and pay is withheld if they sit out or self redshirt. But that’s going to have to be done across the board with all NIL collectives.

 

[BradentonVol]

Then clawbacks should be worked into their NIL contracts if they sit out, OR they’re paid on a per game basis and pay is withheld if they sit out or self redshirt. But that’s going to have to be done across the board with all NIL collectives.

Per Supreme Court, it cannot be “pay for play”. It’s NIL so, pay is supposed to be for those things

 

[Ernie McCracken]

Nuck Fico

GBO

 

[CAPTAIN--VOL CAVALRY]

Lavar Ball type stuff, as I see it.

I hope NIko's daddy looses more that a foot, lol.

we shall see

 

[KTrain]

Honestly asking because I hadn't seen it......are there talking heads saying we're to blame? Just curious.....heck, there are Florida fans down here who have told me Tennessee is doing the right thing........its weird.

I saw a poll it had 3 answers, 1. Did Tenn do the right thing; 2 Was Nico worth more money; 3. is this hurting college football.
1. got 85%
2 got 0%.
3 got 15% of votes
285 had voted when I saw this poll

 

[LegionnaireOfTheMiserable]

Couldn't disagree with you more. Read the whole article. Finebuam said this was good for Nico. He's the only pudit to say this.

Might be good for Nico, because as time went on and he couldn’t use the “he’s just a freshman” excuse, he was going to be exposed for the mediocre player he is. Maybe he can move down and look half decent, still have a shot at getting drafted.

 

[Woodlawn VOL]

It's only a matter of time, if it hasn't already happened, that kids or their handlers will threaten to sit out of big games or playoff games if their demands aren't met. I doubt coaches worth their salt, including Kirby, would put up with it, but I could see some others doing so.

Let them sit and have to endure the ridicule. Paying average players more than their worth is not a smart way to do business. GBO

 

[Vol737]

Per Supreme Court, it cannot be “pay for play”. It’s NIL so, pay is supposed to be for those things

Yeah, I get it, but somewhere along they way, if NIL is here to stay (and it is) all of this somehow has to get married up and worked out to where there is clarity and benefit for the university/program itself. OR, NIL itself is banned in its current form of collectives (because it is pay to play at it's most basic level) and it's just limited to clothing/apparel deals/sponsorships, commercials, autograph signings, royalties off anything sold with their name and number on it, etc. A lot of schools are going to have a difficult time keeping collectives going, imo. IF the NCAA had foresight at all and allowed this a long time ago, we might not even be dealing with the whole NIL collective issue. Of course, being the reactive NCAA and not proactive.....well, here we are.

 

[Firebirdparts]

Then clawbacks should be worked into their NIL contracts if they sit out, OR they’re paid on a per game basis and pay is withheld if they sit out or self redshirt. But that’s going to have to be done across the board with all NIL collectives.

Right, pay for play is going to have to be legalized. That will fix most of the problems with this. NIL is uncontrollable, but luckily, it’s also 99% fake. The collectives would be thrilled to switch to some for of performance management.

 

[SpaceCoastVol]

As you can see from my post just above yours, I think TN has absolutely responded how they should. I’ve nothing against Nico, and I do wish him well. Having said that, I like and respect how CJH has handled this.

You are way more forgiving than I. I hope Nico never plays another down.

 

[SpaceCoastVol]

It's only a matter of time, if it hasn't already happened, that kids or their handlers will threaten to sit out of big games or playoff games if their demands aren't met. I doubt coaches worth their salt, including Kirby, would put up with it, but I could see some others doing so.

Suppose Boo (for example) puts his name in the portal. What would happen if he were subsequently benched for the rest of the year? World it send a message? Do we really want yearly free agents making up our starting team?

 

[FanDude]

Despite what those schools are saying, it is still possible that Nico could get more money from North Carolina, USC, or Oregon. They would have to decide if he is worth it after looking at his stats and film. That's a big if, IMO.

 

[DirtyDawg]

You are way more forgiving than I. I hope Nico never plays another down.

Yeah, I can understand that. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not at all pleased about what I’m hearing of Nico. I’m hoping he just got influenced into making terrible decisions. I really don’t know, maybe I’m not caught up in the latest news, but I’ve been reading that his father is likely the one behind these terrible decisions. If that is the case, I can imagine it putting him in a very uncomfortable situation, he is still basically a kid through this. Yet, then I read that he was acting out before your playoff game last season.

When I say I wish him the best, what I really mean is that I hope he learns from this and is a better person for it.

I will honestly say that I 100% think that TN football is better off after this. I’ve heard very good things about Merk, so maybe in the end this is an upgrade. If I were a Vol, I’d certainly not be happy about this whole situation, but at the same time I’d be excited about my young QBs getting a chance to step up. Hell, I’m a Dawg, but I’m excited to see how Merk fairs with this opportunity. Obviously, I don’t want to see him light up my Dawgs, but I’d love to see him take the reins and be the leader you guys need at QB.

 

[KTrain]

Might be good for Nico, because as time went on and he couldn’t use the “he’s just a freshman” excuse, he was going to be exposed for the mediocre player he is. Maybe he can move down and look half decent, still have a shot at getting drafted.

We will never know but there's a part of my thinking that says CJH exhaled when he let Nico go. I'm not in on who said we need to put 8 Mill into this HS player but if CJH was a part of that he put himself in a box. He had to somehow make this work the collective had put a big ball of wax on a crazy family. So, Josh went to work to try his best to make this thing happen, with a lot of $$$ pressure. I think when he saw all this going on he thought Nico is a better option than the 2 freshman QBs we have but not that much better and this axing Nico took a lot of pressure off of Josh and I think he can go back and coach like he did in 22. Hopefully we don't have some surprises today per portal.

 

[hUTch2002]

First of all, you are right.

But, what I don’t understand is the failure of some of these kids (and most likely their families) to understand the long play.

Yes, there is money to be made now at the college level. And, yes, there is certainly no guarantee of an NFL career.

But, damn, playing at any school in the top-half of the SEC is a huge honor and incredible opportunity to develop for the next level. Hell, CJH already took two transfers off the scrap heap and put them on NFL rosters for multiple seasons. And Tennessee put one all-time great in the League.

If they had let Nico be a real teammate and develop under CJH, who know what could’ve happened?

Sad. Because I don’t think Nico had any say in this at all. And before I get pushback. How many 20-year-olds are ready to essentially end their relationship with their father?

I heard someone make a great point on espn radio. If the kid plays next year he’s one of the faces of not just UT, but of the SEC. If you’re one of the faces of the best conference in the country, that leads to a ton of publicity and likely to other good things that would ultimately yield more money than a better NIL deal.

 

[EZE]

I heard someone make a great point on espn radio. If the kid plays next year he’s one of the faces of not just UT, but of the SEC. If you’re one of the faces of the best conference in the country, that leads to a ton of publicity and likely to other good things that would ultimately yield more money than a better NIL deal.

It’s interesting to me that his dad apparently doesn’t see a difference between playing at UT in the SEC and playing at Texas Tech in the Big XII.

I understand that Mahomes went to Tech, but it was a completely different program back then.

I guess it’s all about the size of the bag.

 

[tenascvol]

Couldn't disagree with you more. Read the whole article. Finebuam said this was good for Nico. He's the only pudit to say this.

I listened to Paul’s show yesterday on the way to BHM. He thought it was good for Nico because this hopefully would open his eyes to the shadiness his entourage brought. He put full blame on Nico‘s camp.

 

[hUTch2002]

It’s interesting to me that his dad apparently doesn’t see a difference between playing at UT in the SEC and playing at Texas Tech in the Big XII.

I understand that Mahomes went to Tech, but it was a completely different program back then.

I guess it’s all about the size of the bag.

Even then, the programs aren’t comparable. He would have gotten way more exposure as one of the leading SEC QBs than at any Big 12 school.