Mario Cristobal gave a stern message after the Miami Spring Game on Saturday regarding the holdout and subsequent dismissal of Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava. Iamaleava was not at Tennessee practice on Friday, with reports stating he wanted more name, image and likeness money.
Pete Thamel of ESPN reported on Friday that Iamaleava missing practice and meetings on Friday was the driver in the decision by Tennessee to dismiss him. Iamaleava has an NIL evaluation of $3.1 million per On3. According to USA Today, Iamaleava was receiving $2 million per year in NIL deals.
Miami quarterback Carson Beck reportedly received $4.3 million to transfer to Miami. Miami has been at the forefront of NIL and the transfer portal under Cristobal, but he is still at heart an old-school football coach who expects hard work, physicality, loyalty to the team and no one who thinks they are above the program.
Cristobal expects discipline from his players and putting the team in front of themselves. He will make decisions that are best for the program. Cristobal knows if he coalesced to a player's demands, the line would start for everyone on the team wanting the same thing. The comments from Cristobal start around nine minutes in the video below.
"You make the decisions that are best for the program...It all depends on what you're willing to accept, or you're going to draw the line in your program...Once you allow that to happen and you agree to it, we'll prepare for a line of 80 guys doing the same thing...We're not going to do that at Miami...If anyone's...want to play holdout, they might as well play get out. We don't want to do that and we don't want Miami to become that..Too many guys...have laid on the line...to ever become that kind of a program."Miami head coach Mario Cristobal
Cristobal is building a program, not just a team. Miami has improved in each of the three seasons under Cristobal. Cristobal easily could have made former QB Cam Ward bigger than the program during the 2024 season. The record-setting 2024 season Ward had and his accolades and awards have been well documented.
Like Ward did in 2024, Beck comes to Miami with a lot of publicity and success. Although Beck was hurt this spring, he has received nothing but praise from Cristobal about his work ethic learning the offense, a high football IQ and the example he is setting for his teammates, particularly in the QB room.
Cristobal has made clear the importance of recruiting high-character players to Miami. In the past, Cristobal has stressed the importance of getting players who did not fit the expectations of the program to move on. The situation at Tennessee will not likely be unique early in the NIL era.
Players holding out in professional sports has been prevalent for decades. Miami sports fans are aware of Jimmy Butler forcing a trade. College players now have the opportunity to enter the transfer portal in December and April. Iamaleava will be the most prevalent name in the 2025 Spring Transfer Portal that is open April 16-25.