UCLA football coach DeShaun Foster is a bit tone deaf after clamoring that he likes having haters and being the topic of discussion. These discussions you don’t want to be around. As chaotic as Nico Iamaleava’s departure was from Tennessee, there’s not a chance this is the type of publicity Foster wants in his second season.
“You want to be in conversations. You want to play big-time ball. You want to have people who, you know — you want to have haters. You want all this stuff, because that means that you’re trending in the right direction,” said Foster, h/t On3Sports. “So, if you want to play big-time ball, you can do that here at UCLA. We’ve got a quarterback situation that’s going to pan out for us, and we’re just looking forward to it.
Sure, Deion Sanders came to FBS as one of the most polarizing Division I football coaches and in two seasons he turned Colorado into the most popular football program not in the Big Ten or the SEC. But Sanders has always had that shadow over him.
I get it, Foster wanted to make a big splash and bring in a player that can play, elevate this team and turn them into a powerhouse in the Big Ten. But the spotlight Iamaleava is going to bring is not worth everything that comes with it. Sure, it’s nice to have a target on your back because it can motivate you. This isn’t the target Foster should want on his team.
UCLA, DeShaun Foster set to learn a big lesson after Nico Iamaleava transfer portal acquisition
There’s a reason why Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel kicked Nico Iamaleava off the team before he had a chance to officially entered the transfer portal. Everything about Tennessee football centered around an average quarterback and not the team.
Iamaleava was selfish in how he handled his departure from Tennessee. I’m not saying he was wrong in wanting out to make more money; that’s the landscape of college athletics now. But he could have been more professional or mature in how it went down.
Maybe it was more from his dad and agent than it was him, either way, it was a sour situation. Which is why Foster is delusional if he thinks the same won’t happen to him or his squad or if he thinks this is the type of publicity the team needs.
Nobody will care what UCLA football does if they aren’t good with Iamaleava next season. It will all be centered around how Iamaleava made a bad decision and became non-existent. And if he does play well, it would be about how Tennessee missed out.
In this situation, there is a such thing as bad publicity. What’s to stop Iamaleava from doing the same thing to UCLA like he did with Tennessee. Nothing. And if Iamaleava forces his way out of a school for the second-straight season, can Foster really look back and say it was all worth it?