Nico Iamaleava arrived in college football with the kind of hype that follows only a handful of quarterbacks. Coming out of a recruiting class that also included Arch Manning and Dante Moore, he entered the sport as one of the biggest names to watch, and the reasons were obvious from the start: a big arm, real athleticism and the kind of dual-threat ability that can change an offense.
The question now is whether UCLA finally gives him the setup to show it consistently.
Iamaleava’s second season at Tennessee offered a glimpse of what he can do when things are rolling. He threw for 2,616 yards on 334 attempts, with 19 touchdowns and five interceptions, and helped Tennessee reach the College Football Playoff before the Volunteers fell to eventual national champion Ohio State. Even with that production, though, the story of his college career has still been shaped by uneven stretches that kept him from proving it every week.
That’s where UCLA enters the picture. The Bruins are building around Bob Chesney, who brought over as much talent as he could from James Madison, and that should matter for Iamaleava right away. Running back Wayne Knight is expected to help jump-start the ground game, which should make life easier on the quarterback and give him more room to operate.
UCLA also added another familiar piece from JMU in Landon Ellis, who is coming off a season with 624 yards and five touchdowns. That gives Iamaleava another viable target and adds to a receiver room that looks better equipped to support him than the one he had last year.
And last year, to be blunt, was a tough environment for any quarterback. UCLA struggled badly, and with a midseason coaching change layered on top of a shaky roster, the situation was hardly built for success.
Now Chesney brings his offense to Westwood, and Iamaleava should be a central part of it. The expectation is that Chesney will lean into what makes him dangerous: the ability to beat defenses through the air and on the ground. UCLA didn’t really do that a year ago, but that is the direction this new setup points.
With an offensive-minded head coach, a stronger run game and more help at receiver, Iamaleava has a real chance to make this his most productive college season yet.
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Oregon is already making the 2028 class a priority, and the Ducks have zeroed in on one of the West Coasts most intriguing young quarterbacks in Josiah Boyd. The Moreno Valley product is rated the No. 7 quarterback in the country, and his early shortlist includes Oregon, USC, UCLA, LSU and Kentucky, a sign that this race could quickly become a regional recruiting battle with national pull.
For UCLA, Boyds presence on Oregons radar matters because the Bruins are right there among the programs being weighed by a top-end California passer. Boyd has spoken positively about Oregons culture, player development and fan support, and he is expected to make game day visits in the fall, which could give the Ducks another chance to separate themselves before this recruitment gets any more crowded. [Read more 🡒]
Nico Iamaleava Gives UCLA Fans A Real Reason To Dream Big
Nico Iamaleava is already giving UCLA a different kind of buzz as the Bruins turn the page into a new era under head coach Bob Chesney and offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy. The junior quarterback has been named to the Maxwell Award preseason watch list, a sign that his profile is rising well beyond Westwood as he heads into his second season with the program.
Iamaleavas first year at UCLA offered enough flashes to make people take notice, with the quarterback appearing in 11 games and contributing both as a passer and runner. Now the bigger question is how quickly he and Kennedy can click in an offense that should look different from a year ago, and whether that combination can turn preseason recognition into something much more meaningful once the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]