Following Tennessee football’s 35-0 Citrus Bowl win over Iowa in Orlando on New Year’s Day, starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava met with the media to discuss his four-touchdown, Citrus Bowl-MVP performance in the win.
See everything Iamaleava said below.
How Joe Milton III has helped with preparation:
“He has been great, helping me the whole season the whole way in this Bowl game. Yeah, I really cannot ask for much from Joe. He answers every question, and I really appreciate him.”
On what it was like to play a full game as the starter:
“Felt great, man. Finally, to play a whole game, I have not done that in a while. Felt good to get back out there and get my feet wet. Yeah, I am proud of the guys and how they played. The receivers played a tremendous game, and O-line did good. Receivers did good. I still think there is a lot of room for us to get better.”
On redshirting in year one and his reaction:
“I never really had redshirt in my mind. I really wanted to learn this whole year behind Joe. Getting a year of experience just learning under my belt. Redshirting never really crossed my mind.”
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On how excited he is for next season:
“We have a great team around us, great coaching staff, and I really think sky is the limit for this team. It is up to us to go out there and get it done.”
On what he wants to work on in the off-season:
“Right now, I have not thought about that yet. I have really just been soaking up this W we just got. A lot of stuff we want to work on. Not off the top of my head right now. Still thinking about the win we just had.”
On what it means to have his family in attendance:
“It was a very special moment for me and my family. It is their first time having their son, or me, play at this elite college level. I think they were just proud to see me go out there and play.”
On Hendon Hooker’s tweet and how big of an influence Hooker was:
“Huge, man. I think Hendon and Joe, when I first got here, they welcomed me with open arms, man. Yeah, it feels good to get love from guys like that, guys that set this university at the standard it is right now.”
On how he remained poised:
“I just took it as every other game. We knew we had a job to do. No nervousness or anything going into the game when you prepare like our QB room does. Felt like we were just real prepared, and it was just time to go let it go.”
On the biggest thing he learned from Joe Milton III:
“Just me learning from Joe. I think I learned how to be a pro. How to approach every day with the same mentality. Going into practice, you know, just in high school, I feel like practice is way different than college football. So, he taught me how to practice. He taught me what the mindset going into practice should be. Yeah, so much more other things. I could go on and on.”
On if he has any QBs he models his game after and why he chose Tennessee:
“I watch a lot of guys, try and take a piece of their game and add it to mine. Some of the main guys, I watch Joe Milton every day. Just his pocket presence and the way he is able to deliver the ball from anywhere. He has a cannon, so just learning from his
game. I take a lot from Bryce Young and Lamar Jackson, their game, too. I think it is just a mix, Josh Allen.
The reason I chose this university is, first of all, I think the whole coaching staff is one of the top coaching staffs in the nation. They really welcomed me with open arms. I felt like I was at home every time I took a visit. I just really — I never felt no fake love, man. I really felt like the real me from day one. Other than that, I think just the fans. I love the fans, the culture here. Yeah, that is pretty much why I chose here.”
To end the press conference, Iamaleava and Heupel shared a highly humorous moment. For more on the exchange, click here.
