If any Miami Hurricane players consider following Nico Iamaleava’s lead and holding a name, image, and likeness (NIL) holdout, they may want to think again.
Iamaleava, the now-former quarterback at the University of Tennessee, made headlines last week when he announced he would not participate in football activities until the school agreed to renegotiate his NIL deal worth $10 million.
Mario Cristobal, the head coach at the University of Miami, left no doubt about his position on NIL holdouts and what would happen to any of his players should they try them.
“We’re not going to do that at Miami, and I say that without any hesitation,” he told reporters after the Hurricanes’ spring game. “If anyone’s thinking that — and they could be the best player in the world — if they want to play holdout, they might as well play get out. We don’t want to do that, and we don’t want Miami to become that. Too many guys have sweat and bled and laid it on the line on that field to ever become that kind of program.”
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel lamented the situation with Iamaleava and chalked it up to the “state of college football.”
“It’s the state of college football,” Heupel told Vol Network. “At the end of the day, no one is ever bigger than the program. That includes me, too.
“We’ve got an opportunity. We’ve got a bunch of guys who are going to give their all for Tennessee. We move forward. Got a great group. Let’s go compete.”
While Iamaleava has not yet signed with a new school, Oregon has emerged as a potential landing spot.
