Nico Iamaleava drama should make Texas fans even more grateful for Arch Manning

NIL has done a number on the sport that we love. While the games themselves remain the biggest reason why college football is the best sport on Earth, I would be lying to you if I did not think it was becoming more and more like the NFL with every passing day. Yes, players should get paid for their names, images and likenesses, but I hate seeing players crumble at the first sign of any adversity.

In the wake of former Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Nico Iamaleava up and leaving the contending program over not getting the NIL deal he wants, it just goes to show how incredibly lucky the Texas Longhorns are to have Arch Manning. The latest generation of football's first family had to back up Quinn Ewers in Austin the last two years, knowing all to well he could have started elsewhere.

Now that Iamaleava has left Knoxville, Manning is the only 2023 five-star quarterback who stayed put.

After looking through the 10 highest ranked quarterbacks of the 2023 class, seven have transferred.

To date, Manning, Kansas State's Avery Johnson and Clemson's Christoper Vizzina have yet to transfer. Dante Moore, Jackson Arnold, Malachi Nelson, Aidan Chiles and Austin Mack are on either their second or third college football teams in two years. As with Iamaleava, Jaden Rashada is back in the transfer portal, looking for a new place to play. Is it an epidemic or just a new normal to consider?

Regardless, Manning entering year three in Austin is a big reason to be high on the Longhorns again.

Arch Manning staying at Texas is a rarity in the NIL era of college football

Before I really dive into this, what we have to remember is this is a different era of college football quarterbacks. They grew up in the era of flag football and seven-on-seven camps. Many of the game's best players lost a year of high school due to COVID. Since 2021, NIL has been front and center in college football, and has been largely unregulated. We seem to have reached a critical point.

It is far less punitive than ever before to transfer. You can go seemingly wherever you want now without having all that many consequences. Yes, Iamaleava would have to sit out a season if he were to leave Tennessee for another SEC school, but leaving in the spring is far less common than leaving after the season ends in December. There is no solution for this because we opened a can of worms.

Rather than tear these kids down for having to make tough financial decisions before their brains are fully formed, let's talk about guys like Manning who are willing to stick it out. Back in the day, players were told to commit to a school and not a coach. That seems to have gone by the wayside in recent years. At the first sign of adversity, people panic and run for the hills, but Manning never even blinked.

When he committed to Texas, he wanted to be at Texas, even if Ewers was still the big man on campus in Austin. Yes, the idea initially was for Ewers to turn pro after the 2023 college football season and Manning would have been the starter last year. For various reasons, that did not happen. They were out of Manning's control. Rather than taking his ball and going home, he fought to be a part of this.

To date, Manning has a famous last name and a five-star pedigree working in his favor at a traditional power and a serious College Football Playoff national title contender. He also is more of a runner than a thrower at this stage of his college career, with some two starts under his belt entering year three. He has plenty of cachet to go wherever he wants, but he decided and chose to remain loyal to Texas.

The karmic implications seem to be in his favor ahead of year three for Manning and the program.