It's a sunny Friday afternoon, and Valenti is "pissed." After hearing the story out of Tennessee that Volunteers quarterback Nico Iamaleava is sitting out of spring practices in pursuit of a more lucrative NIL deal -- after seeing other QB's sign bigger deals than his this offseason -- "there’s no other response than immediate, smoldering rage," said Valenti.
In a rant about Iamaleava and the new NIL-driven landscape of college football, Valenti says that things "aren't getting better, they're just getting dumber."
Iamaleava was the No. 2 recruit in the country in 2023 and led Tennessee to the College Football Playoff last season. He's reportedly set to make $2.4 million in NIL money this year, but is said to be seeking $4 million. To Valenti, it's absurd that defenders of Iamaleava "are blanketing this by saying, 'Well, it’s a business.'"
"No, no, no. I work in a business. Do you know what I don’t get to do? Renegotiate because I effing feel like it. There is a window, there is a contract, you go through blood warfare, you renegotiate, and then you shut up and work."
Valenti says that after Iamaleava already renegotiated his deal once this offseason, it's preposterous that he's trying to do so again:
"At what point are there adults in the room who say, 'You know what, we agreed to this, you gave your word. Son, it can’t be everything you want, all the time. That’s not life.' How does anyone take any of this seriously? ... How can you possibly buy season tickets to this crap? Donate to this crap? How do you watch it?"