New UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava spoke at the Big Ten football media day on Thursday with Fox Sports’ Nick Koop and Wayne Cook. He discussed the upcoming season after a tumultuous offseason for the young signal caller.
Iamaleava returned home to Southern California. He grew up in the Long Beach area. His brother, Madden Iamaleava, joined him when the younger Iamaleava sibling flipped his commitment from Arkansas to UCLA. Iamaleava will work with first-year offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri under head coach DeShaun Foster.
“I’m back to a pro-style offense, in Tennessee we were very wide, wide splits. It’s been great adjusting to Tino’s offense, the different verbiage he has, it’s been a fun challenge for me,” Iamaleava said of his new coaching staff. “I’ve known a lot of guys on the team already so just hearing from them on how they talk about Coach Foster. He’s a great guy, a player coach and I love it when you have a player coach as your head coach.”
Iamaleava has appeared in 18 games with the Vols over the last two seasons, totaling 2,930 passing yards with 27 touchdowns and a completion percentage of 63.6%. Despite Iamaleava’s late commitment to UCLA, he knows he’ll be asked to lead this year’s Bruins team as they enter their second season in the Big Ten Conference.
“It’s kind of new for me coming in so late and getting to know the guys,” Iamaleava said. “I lean on the vets in the locker room, the older guys, just helping me and getting me to step out of my comfort zone because I’m not a big loud guy so when they ask me to step into that leadership role, it makes it definitely easier.”
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: UCLA QB Nico Iamaleava welcomes pro-style offense at Big Ten football media day
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
