Tennessee is moving forward without quarterback Nico Iamaleava, and coach Josh Heupel said Saturday he had a simple message to the remaining Volunteers.
No one is bigger than the Power T, including the coach himself.
Even now in the different landscape that is college football.
''This program has been around for a long time with a lot of great coaches and a lot of great players that laid the cornerstone pieces, the legacy, the tradition that is Tennessee football,'' Heupel said. ''It's going to be around a long time after I'm done and after they're gone, and that's what special about being here is that there is a legacy and a tradition that is so rich and a logo that's recognized not just across the nation but around the world too."
Heupel called losing Iamaleava an ''unfortunate'' situation." He thanked Iamaleava for his work while at Tennessee. Asked about the timing without notice just before the spring game Saturday, Heupel said there's never an easy time to lose a player. Heupel told his coaches Friday that he's lost players at the start of training camp or during the season with adversity a chance to either bring teams together or divide them.
''If it's going to happen, rip the Band-Aid, too,'' Heupel said about losing a player. ''At the end of the day, we got a lot of great work for the two guys that are here. We've got a chance to move forward as a program. It's unfortunate in the landscape of college football that it happens at this point.''
Iamaleava had been practicing all spring and expected to be the starting quarterback for a second straight season. Asked when Heupel knew the Vols would not have Iamaleava moving forward, the coach said Friday morning when the quarterback was a ''no show'' with no communication with Heupel. The Tennessee coach refused to get into details about any discussions with Iamaleava and his representatives.
''He's moving on, we're moving on, too,'' Heupel said. ''We'll be ready to roll when we get to next fall.''
