“Doomsday scenario” – Month after Nico Iamaleava’s exit, Tennessee handed fresh setback threatening SEC future

The Tennessee Volunteers could soon be forced out of the SEC, due to NIL and salary cap rules.

The state of Tennessee passed a law that means the Volunteers don’t have to follow any NIL rules in the NCAA. It was an intriguing lawsuit, but due to the unfair advantage that comes with it, Yahoo’s college football insider Ross Dellenger claimed that it could lead to the SEC commissioner kicking Tennessee out of the SEC.

Now, the SEC Football Podcast confirmed that it is a consideration.

“Tennessee has passed this law where they don’t have to do NIL laws, they can do whatever the hell they want,” SEC Mike said on The SEC Fooball Podcast (13:44). “You better believe that the rest of the states are going to do that if they are allowed to get away with it.

“So, according to Ross Dellinger, regardless of what state laws Tennessee or anybody passed, if this house settlement becomes official, and we have the salary cap and NIL deals have to be legitimate, we just can’t be giving people millions of dollars to post on Instagram. You have to abide by the rules or they can kick you out of the league,” he continued.

If the SEC kicks Tennessee out of the conference, it would be a stunning move and would be arguably the biggest story in college football in years.

However, until the House passes the NIL rules for college sports, all of this is just rumors, but it is something to monitor going forward.

Tennessee parted ways with Nico Iamaleava due to NIL

The Tennessee Volunteers were at the center of an NIL dispute this offseason.

Starting quarterback Nico Iamlaeava wanted more NIL money and held out of spring practice. After he held out, Heupel announced the Volunteers would be moving on from him as he claimed no one is bigger than the program.

“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. “Obviously, we’re moving forward as a program without him. I said it to the guys today. There’s no one that’s bigger than the Power T. That includes me.”

It was a bold stance from Heupel and Tennessee as it was the first real holdout in college football for more money.

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alt=”Cole Shelton” height=”72″ width=”72″>

Cole is an NHL, NFL and College Sports reporter at Sportskeeda with over 7 years of experience writing for publications like CBC, USA Today, SMG, BJPENN, Sherdog and SB Nation.

An NHL fan his whole life, Cole played rep hockey in Canada from age 5 until 17 and grew up rooting for Martin St. Louis and the Tampa Bay Lightning. His all-time favorite players are Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos, while Jon Cooper is his favorite coach of all time.

Cole attended Sheridan College and received his journalism degree in 2019. After decades of watching and reporting, he considers his knowledge of sports as his primary strength. He ensures that the same story has been reported by at least two reputed reporters before creating it.

Cole enjoys playing golf and spending time with friends and family when not reporting breaking stories. His favorite sports moment is from the 2010 Olympics, when Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal in overtime to beat Team USA for the gold medal.

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Edited by Cole Shelton