No one in college football has faced as much scrutiny as Nico Iamaleava has.

The nation turned its back on the former five-star prospect when Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel announced that the Volunteers would move on from the signal caller in April 2025.

Tennessee fans and spectators from all corners of the country raced to criticize the redshirt sophomore quarterback on anything they could scrounge up. He was deemed “overhyped” and faced claims that he had not lived up to the No. 2 recruit ranking – despite leading Tennessee to its first-ever College Football Playoff.

He was chastised for being “disloyal” and for absolving allegiance to Heupel, his teammates, the university and Knoxville, Tennessee, at large.

Iamaleava became the figurehead for what many label collegiate athletics’ central issue: name, image and likeness.

Heupel’s message, “At the end of the day – no one is ever bigger than the program,” became a mantra that fans, coaches, viewers and even current and former athletes alike echoed.

People even mocked the quarterback’s last name, spinning Iamaleava into “I am a leava.”

And although the Long Beach, California, local left Knoxville more than six months ago, the attention, comparisons and ridicule linger.

Social media never fails to compare Joey Aguilar – the Bruins’ offseason starter before Iamaleava arrived in Westwood and now-Vol quarterback – with the five-star recruit’s stats each week. Everyone laughed at what some called the “worst decision ever made” in sports when UCLA started the season 0-4.

Videos circulated of Iamaleava being sacked by Utah, intercepted by UNLV and getting embarrassed by New Mexico at the Rose Bowl. Some orange-clad Tennessee fans even made the trip to Pasadena for UCLA’s contest against then-No. 7 Penn State.

But through a ridicule-ridden offseason, a 0-4 start and UCLA’s coaching staff overhaul, no one has stood taller than Iamaleava.

At every opportunity to displace ownership or to bash others, Iamaleava takes accountability. Every time someone lobbed the quarterback a question about the then-winless team’s state or about his ambitions to move on from UCLA, he doubled – and even tripled – down on his commitment to the university.

“I think it starts with me,” Iamaleava said after UCLA’s 30-23 defeat to UNLV. “I’ve got to be better coming out. I started out a little slow on the first drive coming out. Overall, we’ve got to clean up a lot of stuff. … I saw Mikey (junior wide receiver Mikey Matthews) come across the middle, lost track of the Mike linebacker and made a bad decision of throwing over the middle. The guy tipped the ball. I’ve got to be better.”

Even after everyone had finished bludgeoning collegiate sports’ biggest punching bag and began complimenting Iamaleava, he never once started with himself.

He prioritized his coaches and teammates first.

“I think these past four games, a lot of self-afflicted things were happening to us, and we ended up coming up short,” Iamaleava said after beating the Nittany Lions. “I’ve always seen the skill level and the belief in our guys. Our coaches kept us afloat. We have the right guys to do it, we just have to go execute. Today was a great display of that.”

To the people who label Iamaleava as disloyal, I point to a quarterback who embodied the glue that held the Bruins together. Iamaleava could have packed his bags and left – or instead just gone through the motions while watching this program dissolve into disarray.

Instead, Iamaleava did the opposite.

The signal caller brought the Bruins together and challenged them, showing the door to the people who didn’t buy into the team or program.

“It was a lot of outside noise coming into it,” Iamaleva said after defeating Penn State. “I was preaching to the guys, ‘If you don’t want to be here, leave.’ Basically telling the guys, ‘Whoever still believes that we’re still in this and we still have games ahead of us that we can win, let’s roll.’”

To the people who say Iamaleava considers himself bigger than the program and is an individual who has little regard for his teammates and his coaches, I see a player who has showered his colleagues with love and appreciation – all while shouldering the burden that followed him to the West Coast.

It has never been the Iamaleava show. That is evident through the quarterback’s words and, even more importantly, actions.

“The efforts of coach Skip (interim head coach Tim Skipper) and Nico trying to bring the team together, I think it’s working, and we are going to keep it rolling,” said Mateen Bhaghani after Iamaleava led a game-winning drive that culminated in a field goal from the junior kicker against Maryland.

The first person on the field celebrating with the defense after a big stop or a turnover is No. 9. The first person to redirect praise to his teammates or coaches after a record-setting game is the same player everyone calls a “diva.”

“Big-time players make big-time plays, and that’s what he did out there. He rises to the occasion. That’s the thing I love about him. There’s no pressure too big for him,” said Skipper after the Penn State victory. “He applies pressure to defenses. I am happy for him. He’s our leader of the team. He was the No. 1 vote-getter for captains, and I love that kid and appreciate him so much.”

And to the critics that say Iamaleava has yet to live up to his high school hype or projected ability, I show a signal-caller that has thrown for 1,355 and 10 touchdowns on a 0.652 completion percentage, including 360 yards and four scores on the ground, this season.

Iamaleava has thrown for 567 air yards, rushed for 156 ground yards and recorded nine total touchdowns across his last three performances. He also earned AP Player of the Week honors for his five-touchdown performance in UCLA’s upset against then-No. 7 Penn State – the program’s first top-10 victory since 2010.

“Nico is the ultimate competitor. He was down on the ground – he was down and feeling really bad, and he got up and walked it off. Then they said, ‘You’re okay,’ and he said, ‘I’m going,’” Skipper said after the Maryland victory. “He went out there and led a phenomenal drive. He stuck in that pocket and delivered the ball, got us down there – big run, and then we executed the field goal.”

I said that Iamaleava is a perfect fit for UCLA.

[Related: Dully’s Drop: Foster’s vision for UCLA football identity can be realized with Nico Iamaleava]

And it is clear that the signal-caller and his squad share a symbiotic relationship through seven games of the 2025 season. Both are out to prove the naysayers wrong – the college football fans that turned their backs on the former and the nation that prelabeled the Bruins as one of the country’s worst teams.

He has yet to acknowledge the critics or sink into the shadows through the worst start in program history and the departure of the squad’s top three coaches. Iamaleava has remained in the spotlight – even through the most desolate times – and he has never wavered, standing proud, embracing humility and leading with confidence.

“It shows how much of a leader he is,” said Matthews on Iamaleava returning from injury Saturday. “He definitely wanted to be in that last drive to make sure he ended it out and won us the game. But he came back and pushed through. That just shows he definitely has that dog in him, no matter what.”

My belief about the 2025 campaign remains true.

One season can transform a program. Five more games might be enough to accomplish that. Before UCLA’s affair against Maryland last week, I said the team would earn a Big Noon kickoff in Bloomington, Indiana.

[Related: Dully’s Drop: UCLA football changes to optimistic outlook, trajectory may carry facing Maryland]

And the Bruins did.

A potential upset against the No. 2 Hoosiers would mark another step toward the Bruins replicating what coach Curt Cignetti accomplished with Indiana just a year ago. UCLA can win at Memorial Stadium. The squad beat Penn State when it boasted a top-10 ranking and defeated Michigan State 38-13 – the same score Indiana posted in its latest victory against the Spartans.

The only difference?

UCLA won in East Lansing, Michigan.

The only way the Bruins will get over that hump is if Iamaleava leads the squad to victory. The hate will likely remain even if he does, but his response won’t differ. He will continue to lead the team. He will continue to buy into his teammates and coaches. And he will continue to remind others that he is part of something bigger than himself.

Whether the Bruins finish 3-9 or go to the College Football Playoff, one piece must remain – UCLA and its next head coach needs to keep Iamaleava in Westwood.

Iamaleava is not the Bruins.

He is a Bruin.