Former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava publicly pushed back against what he <a href=" "false reports" that his decision to transfer to UCLA was driven by an NIL dispute.

UCLA bringing in Iamaleava, and the situation with transfer wideout Kaedin Robinson — who made public record his $500,000 NIL deal in an effort to successfully sue the NCAA for eligibility this season — signals that the Bruins, who went 3-6 in league play in their first year in the Big Ten, are now in the game.

Iamaleava sat out portions of Tennessee’s spring practices amid reports that he was looking to redo his name, image and likeness deal with the school. His father disputed the idea that Iamaleava was looking for more money and the QB entered the transfer portal on April 12.

And now, more details about his fallout with the Vols has been revealed via college football insider Kirk Herbstreit in his latest appearance on the Try That Small Town Podcast.

Iamaleava reportedly threatened to sit out the playoff game to renegotiate his contract, reportedly reached out to other programs to gauge their interest in him transferring there and apparently had his father telling head coach Josh Heupel to build a better team around him.

Bruins football head coach and alum DeShaun Foster has a positive outlook entering his second season leading the program. This offseason, UCLA secured the No. 1 transfer prospect available, quarterback Nico Iamaleava out of Tennessee.