Nico, his Dad, his agent(s), and other family reps believed Nico had a lot of leverage to get more money in a revised NIL deal. UT did not have anyone to take his place with near the talent or experience that he had. The upcoming portal period was after everyone finished spring practice, making it much harder for schools to bring in a new QB who could be ready to go by the opener.So they started "negotiating" with UT, with the objective of getting a new deal in the $4M range PER YEAR, even though Nico was already getting $2.4M per year. They had every intention of negotiating privately, to give themselves an option of Nico staying at UT, without getting everything they were asking, and maybe even if they couldn't negotiate any substantial extra money. They were just going to see what they could get, and keep their options open during the process.
But UT officials considered this to be a blatant case of attempted extortion or blackmail, considering everything they had done for Nico, including getting the TN AG to file a lawsuit against the NCAA to make sure Nico could be eligible at UT. Not to mention an unheard of amount for a NIL deal.
UT officials knew they could not buckle to this extortion/blackmail attempt, because it would set a precedent for other key players to do something similar. And more importantly, it would destroy their NIL structure and increase the market value for the entire team. It would possibly wreck their finances for the entire school's NIL program.
UT (probably Danny White, the top legal people, the Chancellor, and the President) all decided they had to stop this negotiation from continuing. And they knew that almost certainly, they were going to have to move on without Nico in the program.
So they decided to leak the story to the media, and they proceeded to do that on Thursday. Once the public heard the details; Nico demanding a lot more money, public opinion immediately supported UT and came down hard on Nico and his reps. And it was virtually unanimous among the media, the fans, and everyone else.
This gave UT the support of Vol fans, to cut Nico loose if it came to that, and it put UT officials on firm footing to kick Nico off the team.
Well, Nico, his Dad, and his reps were FURIOUS when UT leaked the story to the media. It made Nico look very bad, and it ended his chances of negotiating any longer, and it ended his trust of UT officials acting in good faith.
They were so angry, Nico skipped practice, and would not even answer his phone when UT coaches and staff members tried to contact him. And that gave UT all the reason it needed to cut him loose, and move on without Nico.
I doubt if any other school will give him any more than he got at UT, and maybe not even that much. And it wouldn't surprise me if he ended up at a small football program, because none of the big schools want to deal with a player, his Dad, and his reps who were more than willing to resort to extortion and blackmail.
Virtually no one is defending Nico, except maybe Wes Rucker. Virtually everyone is giving UT positive publicity for the way they handled this situation. I think Nico will be the big loser. UT may not be the winner, because they are now without a legit starting QB; at least not at the SEC level. But virtually everyone is praising UT for trying to end a totally out of control NIL system, and force reforms and changes.
And that is worth a lot. As is the integrity of the university.
