Tennessee football quarterback Nico Iamaleava won't redshirt this season says Josh Heupel
Just in case it was ever in doubt, Tennessee freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava will not take a redshirt.
On Wednesday, coach Josh Heupel made that clear during "Vol Calls," the weekly statewide coaches call-in radio show on the Vol Network.
"The plan is whenever the opportunity presents itself to have him in the football game," Heupel said. "There's no plan to redshirt him. We want to get him in as much football as possible."
A player cannot redshirt if he appears in more than four games, even if it's just one snap in a game.
Iamaleava, a five-star recruit in the 2023 class, already has played one game. He made his debut in UT's 49-13 win over Virginia last week, going 2-for-3 passing for 11 yards, and he added an 8-yard rush.
And he is expected to get into the game when the No. 9 Vols (1-0) play their home opener against Austin Peay (0-1) on Saturday (5 p.m. Eastern time, ESPN+/SEC Network+) at Neyland Stadium.
UT has two additional nonconference games, against UT-San Antonio (Sept. 23) and UConn (Nov. 4), and eight SEC games.
Joe Milton is UT's starting quarterback, but Iamaleava, his backup, is the only other quarterback on scholarship. Heupel said it was important to give Iamaleava plenty of game experience.
"I really do love where he's at — his focus every day, his continued growth and understanding of what we're doing," Heupel said. "He's dynamic. He's got the ability to be a playmaker. I thought he handled Saturday extremely well.
"There are some things that he saw from the sideline that when he went in actually operated and handled really well. I anticipate that he will grow throughout the season. We expect him, if he's in the football game, to operate extremely well."
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football QB Nico Iamaleava won't be redshirting 2023
