Tennessee held its spring game on Saturday afternoon amidst a public split with starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava. Before the event started, coach Josh Heupel spoke for the first time about the decision to part ways with Iamaleava.

Following the public disclosure of NIL contract negotiations on Thursday, tensions escalated between Iamaleava’s camp and Tennessee. His absence from the final spring practice the following day compounded the speculation, leading to the Vols’ decision to sever ties with the former five-star recruit.

Just hours after Iamaleava was removed from the official roster, Heupel addressed the situation.

“It’s the state of college football,” said Heupel. “At the end of the day, no one is 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.”

As for the two remaining scholarship quarterbacks, Jake Merklinger and George MacIntyre, Heupel expressed eagerness to see how they perform after a productive spring. “We got two guys in that room; excited to watch them go play. They’ve had a really good spring.”