The transfer portal can be unforgiving, and right now, the Tennessee Volunteers are feeling the heat. Just a week ago, Josh Heupel’s squad looked locked and loaded for the 2025 season. With Nico Iamaleava under center, the offense was the area of least concern for the Vols HC until last week, when Iamaleava decided to walk away from Knoxville in a shocking twist. A QB who posted 2,616 yards and 19 TDs in 2024 alone and helped the Vols finish 10-3, Iamaleava’s exit will be a massive blow for Tennessee, because Heupel, who believes “there’s no one that’s bigger than the Power T,” does not even have a proper backup plan. But just when all signs pointed to panic mode, a new opportunity may have cracked the door open for the Vols.

About Iamaleava’s exit, let’s just say that both parties tried to be professional until their feud became public. Before leaving the Vols, Nico was set to earn $2.2 million in the last year of his 4-year $8 million contract. However, per Pete Thamel of ESPN, Iamaleava was not willing to settle on anything less than $4 million. Tennessee, on the other hand, stood firm, unwilling to meet that number. The standoff reached its boiling point when Nico skipped Friday’s practice, prompting head coach Josh Heupel to make the tough call. It may have seemed like a hasty move, especially with no true backup in place, but a new opportunity may be coming Heupel’s way all the way from Mississippi.

The 2024 season for Southern Miss was a doomsday stretched over 4 months. The team playing in the Sun Belt couldn’t salvage anything in the season and won just one game. Moreover, the losses weren’t easy to swallow as the team stood 116th at points per game among the 134 FBS teams. Will Hall was rightly fired thereafter, and Reed Stringer had to oversee the final five games. But now the team is facing more woes as one major QB prospect has just entered the transfer portal.

The 2025 class of the Golden Eagles may not look as star-studded since it’s ranked 111th nationally. Still, the class had some of the best prospects who were looking brimming with potential. One of those prospects was the QB Silas Corder. Corder, at 6 feet and 190 lbs, was a decent and valued prospect for the team, but has opted to enlist in the portal. The QB wrote on his X account.

“I’ve been blessed to achieve my dreams of setting a new standard for quarterbacks at Pascagoula High and earning an opportunity to compete at the FBS DI level at Southern Miss. I’ve now decided to enter the transfer portal with 4 years of eligibility. Thank you to coaches Will Hall, Reed Stringer, Jack Walker, and Blake Anderson for believing in me. You guys are what made USM the place I wanted to be“.

Corder, while initially signed for a Sun Belt team, still offers a wide range of skill sets. The QB won the Southern Miss Student-Athlete of the Week award on his team. 2x All-State and All-Region MVP while playing for Pascagoula High School in Mississippi, an MS South All-Star QB, all while posting 2,120 passing yards in his high school, Corder may be an elite QB in the making. And with Iamaleava already out of hand, Corder might find a place on Heupel’s roster.

While the QB would not be a starter, and also can’t perform at the level of Nico Iamaleava right now. Still, he offers some good depth talent at the QB position. This is because, after Iamaleava’s abrupt exit to the transfer portal, the Vols can’t sign an SEC QB. And right now, Jake Merklinger seems to be QB1. Apart from Merklinger, there’s only one QB in the Tennessee depth room, and that is George MacIntyre. So, in that sense, a potential addition in the depth room becomes necessary for Josh Heupel.

Nico Iamaleava’s dad drops QB’s potential destination

Nico Iamaleava’s abrupt decision to enter the transfer portal shook the whole CFB world, so much so that there were all kinds of accusations on the young QB. There were reports that the contract talks between Nico’s camp and Tennessee broke down. Taking to X, Nico’s father, Nic Iamaleava, even wrote that “more games being played off the field than on the field.” 

Despite all the drama, the Vols HC thanked and wished only the best for his former signal caller. “I want to thank him for everything he’s done since he’s gotten here, as a recruit and who he was as a player and how he competed inside the building,” Heupel said.

As for Iamaleava’s future destinations, the QB may have higher valued ‘offers’ than the analysts might have predicted. Nico’s dad, Nick Iamaleava, posted about it on X through the Blue Blood Bias X account. “The offers we have received are better than what Nico was getting, by a lot!… Nico has offers over $4,000,000,“. Moreover, Nic also hinted at the team being at Tulane.

This revelation certainly opens up various dimensions, with one side being Nico’s camp and the other side consisting of NIL-bashing journalists and analysts. But to be honest, if Nico hadn’t had offers in his pocket, it wouldn’t have made sense to move away from the Tennessee contract negotiations. So it looks like there may be some truth to Nico’s dad’s claims. However, to verify all of this, we just have to wait a bit more.