Seemingly every day that passes brings college football closer to the format and structure of the NFL. College Athletes now have the transfer portal and NIL at their disposal and soon enough, college athletes will have a new revenue source as revenue sharing comes to college football. While the players deserved their piece of the pie, colleges are quickly going to find out that not having the proper structure in place will start to haunt them.
The best case for a better structure in college football may be Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava who first made headlines with a massive NIL deal to come to Tennessee. On Thursday, On3's Pete Nakos reported that Nico Iamaleava was in active negotiations with the school for a new deal.
The news made headlines as it set up for the possibility that Nico Iamaleava could leave Tennessee during the Spring transfer portal window. On Friday, the negotiations became a holdout as Nico Iamaleava missed Tennessee's practice which came as a surprise.
The move is all too similar to something we see play out on a yearly basis at the NFL level. Stars who are unhappy with their contract at the NFL level will holdout of optional workouts and NFL Training Camp to pressure the team into giving them the contract extension they're looking for. While the move is similar, the difference in the NFL and the College level will lead to College Football needing to set some rules in place.
In the NFL, if a player holds out in hopes of getting a new contract, they have several choices they can either pay the player, trade the player, or wait to see if the player will eventually give in. The Tennessee Volunteers really have no choice in this negotiation as Iamaleava can hold the team hostage. If Tennessee doesn't want to pay Iamaleava his asking price he can enter the transfer portal and find a team that will pay him but, Tennessee won't get anything in return.
This holdout is the first of its kind in College Football and while the team and Iamaleava could reach a deal before it escalates, it'll impact the sport in a massive way. College's will want to start finding a way to keep the players they invest in with their program whether its by attaching a buyout to players or through contracts and collective bargaining. It'll be wild to watch this battle play out as it could lead to wholesale changes across College Football.