Nico Iamaleava’s first season with UCLA football didn’t go as planned last season.
Back for his second season with the Bruins, the former Tennessee quarterback aims to rebound and help start the Bob Chesney era off on the right foot. He also alluded to savoring every moment of the upcoming 2026 college football season, even hinting that it may be his last after calling the Bruins’ spring game last weekend his “last spring game.”
Advertisement
REQUIRED READING: Nico Iamaleava staying at UCLA, will remain Bruins QB for 2026
“It was fun. My last spring game. I tried to go out there and enjoy it with the guys,” Iamaleava said after the game on Saturday, May 3. “It was good to just play what we’ve been working on these past few months.”
While Iamaleava hinted at a possible declaration for the 2027 NFL Draft, the Bruins quarterback is in no rush from an eligibility standpoint. He has two years of eligibility left with the Bruins after redshirting his true freshman season at Tennessee.
Iamaleava — one of the most closely followed players in college football after his abrupt NIL-fueled transfer from Tennessee — had an up‑and‑down 2025 season with the Bruins. He started and played in 11 of UCLA’s 12 games, completing 208 of 323 passes for 1,928 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also finished as the Bruins’ leading rusher, with 505 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns on 112 carries.
Advertisement
The highlight of Iamaleava’s first season at UCLA came with the Bruins’ 42-37 over No. 7 Penn State at the Rose Bowl, when he threw for 166 yards and ran for a game-high 130 rushing yards with five total touchdowns. It not only marked the Bruins’ first win of the season, but also was the program’s first victory over an AP top-10 opponent since 2010.
He now enters the 2026 season as one of the more veteran quarterbacks in the Big Ten and a building block for Chesney’s rebuild of the UCLA program.
“Coach Ches has been a great addition to our team, and I really love the direction we’re heading towards,” Iamaleava said May 3.
Nico Iamaleava NFL mock draft 2027
Should Iamaleava declare for the 2027 NFL Draft, he’ll be part of a deep quarterback class that features Texas‘ Arch Manning, Oregon‘s Dante Moore and Notre Dame’s CJ Carr. He was not included in USA TODAY Sports’ too-early mock draft for next year’s NFL draft, which included five quarterbacks among the 32 first-round picks.
Advertisement
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: UCLA QB Nico Iamaleava hints at NFL draft plans after ‘my last spring game’
