ESPN football analyst Ryan Clark partially blamed Miami head coach Mario Cristobal for the holdout by former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava during a recent appearance on the Paul Finebaum show. Clark said Cristobal is to blame in part because Miami is paying Georgia transfer QB Carson Beck $4.5 million in 2025.
The spotlight has frequently been on Miami since name, image and likeness went into effect on July 1, 2021. Beck has accomplished far more in his career than Iamaleava and was in the winter transfer portal while Iamaleava was still at Tennessee. Tennessee moved on from Iamaleava after he missed practice on Friday.
Beck significantly outplayed Iamaleava in a 31-17 Georgia win over Tennessee in 2024. Beck completed 25 passes in 40 attempts for 347 yards and two touchdowns without an interception and ran three times for 32 yards and another score.
Iamaleava completed 20 passes in 33 attempts for 167 yards and ran 12 times for 18 yards versus Georgia. Succeeding Joe Milton as the Tennessee QB in 2024, Iamaleava completed 63.8 percent of his passes for 2,616 yards, 19 TDs and five interceptions and ran for 358 yards and another three scores.
"(Nico Iamaleava) shouldn't hold out because the contract isn't binding and now you got people like Mario Cristobal, who, by the way, is part and fault of this because he gave Carson Beck, who ain't the best quarterback in the country, 4 million to go to Miami. There's no reason for him to hold out because he's getting overpaid."ESPN analyst Ryan Clark
Beck completed 64.7 percent of his passes for 3,485 yards, 28 TDs and 12 interceptions with 71 yards rushing and one score in 2024. Iamaleava has an 11-3 career record as a starter and reportedly signed an $8 million NIL deal in 2022. Beck is 24-3 in his collegiate career as a starter.
With Miami setting the trend early in NIL, the criticism towards Miami will probably continue. Miami has signed the top transfer QB two years in a row. Beck provides Miami with a chance to contend for a College Football Playoff berth in 2025 after essentially falling one game short in 2024.