While studying the playbook, the first-year starter gets a decent boost in mental toughness from the trash talk he receives from his defense.
Knoxville, Tenn. — Tennessee enters the 2024 football season with a renewed sense of excitement and eagerness. Head Coach Josh Heupel led that sentiment when he described how the program overcame ‘speed bumps’ early in his tenure.
“We’ve handled that in a really positive way. You look at the trajectory of where we’re going on all sides, just couldn’t be more excited about where we have an opportunity to get to. We’re in a race to get there as fast as we can,” said Heupel.
Nico Iamaleava is gearing up for his first season as the full-time starter. His freshman season featured one start which came in the Citrus Bowl against Iowa.
During Tennessee’s 35-0 routing, Iamaleava completed 12 of his 19 attempts for 151 yards and a score.
Since then, his teammates and coaches have continued to praise him on his mental development.
Heupel reemphasized that again on Tuesday.
“He’s been very urgent and worked hard to understand what we’re doing offensively, defensive schemes, the ability to control everything from the run game to protections to checks that we have inside of our offense. He’s got a great understanding of that. He’s a young player, he’s got one start underneath him. We expect him to play at a really high level right from the jump, but there’s going to be growth and maturation for him as a player inside of what we are doing as well,” said Heupel.
While the expectations are sky-high for the first-year starter, it seems to be a threshold the coaching staff is confident Iamaleava can meet.
Joey Halzle, the offensive coordinator, shed light on just how intensely Iamaleava’s been preparing for 2024 following the Citrus Bowl.
Despite the MVP awards he received, the moment the team returned to Rocky Top, Iamaleava was eyes deep with the playbook, determined to understand all the intricacies of the offense.
“Just watching that kid in the spring scrimmages after he’d been here for two months and it’s like man this guy just gets it on the football side of the ball. Now, getting to take this whole offseason and really dive into the intricacies of understanding, “Why are we calling certain things in certain situations? Why are we doing things a certain way? Why are we switching our protection? He is blossoming in that,'” said Halzle. “I think we are going to see his play go to an even higher level, which is a scary thing to think about because just his natural ability to step on a football field and go play well is elite. Now, he’s got to go do it with live bullets for 17 straight games this year, but we’re really excited about where he’s at mentally in this process.”
That hunger stems from the belief that he left a lot on the field that day.
“I think watching back on that Bowl game, a couple of shots I missed. You know, I wasn’t seeing the field right, as I should’ve been. I think that’s going to help me in these future games and experience. I think I definitely needed that bowl game. That’s where it comes from, watching that bowl game over and over and seeing what I missed,” said Iamaleava.
That mental toughness also seems to be feeding into his competitive edge.
Because when you ask him about playing road games, he actually prefers it to home games.
“I definitely love road games more than home games,” said Iamaleava. “I don’t want to upset our Neyland fans, I love playing in Neyland Stadium. I feel like away games all the odds are against you, just gives you a little bit more of that feeling you get. Going on the road is something I’ve always loved to do since a young age.”
If it’s road games he loves, Tennessee’s first true road game happens to be against Josh Heupel’s former team, Oklahoma.
A test Iamaleava is certainly ready for.
“Yes, I am excited. Yes, ma’am I am excited,” said Iamaleava.
While Iamleava’s growth in understanding the playbook boosts his mental game, his mental toughness happens to get a boost from inside the locker room.
“Nico is a guy who makes plays, is a playmaker, does everything in the pocket, being a good quarterback,” said defensive lineman Omari Thomas. “He allows us to continue to grow as a defensive line playing against someone like that. In practice we talk to him, we let him know we’re coming after him, all that. But it’s all just fun, we’re trying to grow and get to where we need to go.”
“It’s great, man. When they say stuff like that, it gets my competitive spirit up. So, getting the DBs to talk a little bit, Rickey will talk. It definitely gets my competitive spirit up,” said Iamaleava.
Sophomore defensive back, Rickey Gibson added, “It just helps us compete a little bit more, just knowing, “Hey you talking a little trash?” As soon as he wins I know he’s coming [to talk trash] so I can’t let that happen. So I think it helps our competition, it helps our bond as a team.”
The best sign of that is they don’t really keep score, indicating the real level of talent and competition they go up against each practice.
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