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Tennessee QB Jake Merklinger details last interaction with Nico Iamaleava
By Andrew Olson
Published:
The Nico Iamaleava drama unfolded rapidly in Knoxville. Over just a few days, Iamaleava went from being Tennessee’s returning starting quarterback to negotiating an NIL deal to absent from the team to no longer part of the team.
The Iamaleava drama stunned fans and media members. Vols players also did not see it coming. Tennessee QB Jake Merklinger noted that Iamaleava seemed to enjoy himself getting tacos with the other quarterbacks on Thursday night. On Friday morning, Iamaleava was not with his teammates.
Jake Merklinger said Tennessee's QBs all had dinner together Thursday night, and Nico Iamaleava was there, and everybody had a great time. He said the tacos were great, too.
— Wes Rucker (@wesrucker247) April 12, 2025
Then they go practice Friday morning, and Nico's not there.
Merklinger finds himself in the spotlight now with Iamaleava gone. The redshirt freshman spent the majority of the Orange and White game working with the starters, going 6-of-14 passing for 82 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception.
Tennessee’s other scholarship quarterback is true freshman George MacIntyre. In the spring scrimmage, MacIntyre was 12-of-16 passing for 124 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Merklinger, from Savannah, Georgia, was rated 4-stars, the No. 11 quarterback and No. 160 prospect overall on the 247Sports Composite coming out of Calvary Day School.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
