Tennessee football is under NCAA investigation for “major” alleged NIL violations, CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd confirmed Tuesday. The Vols are being looked at as a potential repeat violator, given recent sanctions that came as a result of the Jeremy Pruitt tenure — all wins from the 2019 and ’20 seasons were vacated. The new case centers around the signing of former five-star Nico Iamaleava, who inked a then-record NIL contract with Spyre Sports Group, which is Tennessee’s primary collective. The Vols have not received a formal notice of allegations (NOA) from the NCAA, according to Dodd.
The Vols have since been under the direction of head coach Josh Heupel, who is 27-12 (14-10 SEC) since taking over Tennessee in 2021. Heupel went 9-4 (4-4) in 2023.
Iamaleava is set to become the Vols’ starting quarterback in 2024, after spending his freshman season behind Joe Milton. In five games, Iamaleava completed 28 of 45 passes for 314 yards and two touchdowns while adding three rushing scores and 71 yards on 20 attempts (4.6 average).
“I think he raises the ceiling of that offense,” 247Sports director of scouting Andrew Ivins said last week on the 247Sports Football Recruiting Podcast. “And a lot of fans probably didn’t know that Nico is that athletic in terms of his ability to take off and run and find the end zone. … If you’ve ever been around him, he’s just athletic. He’s a guy that played 7-on-7 in the pajama pants. I’m ready to see him go in 2024. I think he is right on schedule.”
Last summer, the NCAA disciplined Tennessee after Pruitt, who was charged with violating head coach responsibility rules, and three others faced unethical conduct allegations for providing false and misleading information during the previous investigation.
The initial case included 18 Level I violations and more than 200 individual infractions involving recruiting violations — primarily, payments to prospects, players and their families totaling approximately $60,000, according to the NCAA’s release. Tennessee’s former staff also hosted prospects on visits during the NCAA-mandated dead period amid the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
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