It’s hard to place too much blame on Nico Iamaleava for the UCLA Bruins’ horrible 2025 season. Iamaleava was dealt a bad hand in Los Angeles last season but the 6’6” quarterback has a lot less excuses in his second season with UCLA.
Iamaleava was a very late addition to the UCLA roster following his dramatic exit from Tennessee after the Volunteers called his bluff in an NIL deal holdout. Iamaleava then joined a dysfunctional Bruins team that fired their head coach three games into the season.
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UCLA quickly pivoted to Tim Skipper and Jerry Neueisel, who did a commendable job of righting the ship but that didn’t stop the Bruins from getting crushed by the strongest teams in the Big Ten.
Even with the struggles, there were moments of greatness from Iamaleava. UCLA does not beat Penn State without Iamaleava taking over the game with his legs but the highlights were few and far between for Iamaleava and the Bruins in 2025.
Iamaleava was the No. 2 overall recruit when he committed to Tennessee and he didn’t exactly live up to the hype. Iamaleava played in five games as a true freshman before taking over as the starter in 2024. Tennessee made the College Football Playoffs but it wasn’t necessarily because of Iamaleava, which made the Vols comfortable watching him leave for UCLA.
The Bruins’ offensive line situation in front of Iamaleava was problematic, which is an issue that could affect any quarterback but it led to Iamaleava being more effective as a runner than with his arm, as he put up a career-high 505 rushing yards.
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The 505 rushing yards led UCLA last year, and with the addition of Bob Chesney and offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy, the time is now for Iamaleava. If things go well for Iamaleava in 2026, he could head to the NFL Draft but if things don’t go as planned, this UCLA coaching staff has no allegiance to Iamaleava and could look elsewhere at quarterback in 2027.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: The clock is ticking for UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava
