Nico Iamaleava says he does not regret his 2025 exit from Tennessee and will stay at UCLA for Bob Chesney’s first season, as Chancellor Julio Frenk dismissed athletic director Martin Jarmond on Monday before the Bruins open Saturday, Sept. 5, at California.

Iamaleava’s decision keeps UCLA’s most prominent offensive player with a 3-9 roster and gives Chesney an early vote of confidence after the quarterback weighed whether the new coach could build a competitive program. Chesney and Iamaleava now lead UCLA’s latest effort to turn a 3-9 team into a credible Big Ten program while the athletic department changes leadership.

Asked by USA TODAY Sports whether he would handle his Tennessee departure differently, Iamaleava said he would not.

> “At that point, the narrative was out there, whatever narratives they made, so I didn't really feel the need to talk, let them run with their stories, and the truth will come out eventually. I think no, I wouldn't have anything different.”

Iamaleava left Tennessee after spring football in 2025. In April 2025, he sought to renegotiate an NIL deal reported at more than $2 million annually; ESPN, citing sources, reported that his representatives sought $4 million a year and used the transfer portal as leverage. The talks stalled, Iamaleava missed Tennessee’s final spring practice and spring game, and coach Josh Heupel said the Volunteers were moving on.

As a Tennessee redshirt freshman, Iamaleava passed for 2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns and five interceptions.

UCLA went 3-9 in 2025, losing its final five games after Iamaleava led an upset of Penn State that launched a three-game winning streak. Deshaun Foster was fired after the third loss of an 0-4 start and finished 5-10 as the Bruins’ coach.

The instability predates last fall. UCLA has gone 36-33 under three coaches over six years, with one bowl victory. The Bruins averaged 37,282 fans at the Rose Bowl last season — 41.6% of the stadium’s 89,702 capacity.

Jarmond’s dismissal adds an athletic-department reset to Chesney’s first season. UCLA entered the Big Ten during Jarmond’s six-year tenure, and the athletic department carried $51.8 million in debt when fiscal 2024 closed, requiring a university bailout.

“UCLA Athletics currently carries a significant financial deficit,” Frenk wrote Monday, “and its current path is not sustainable.”

Iamaleava’s return was not automatic after UCLA’s collapse. Staying near his Long Beach family mattered, but so did Chesney’s ability to show him a program built around people who shared his competitive approach. Neither Iamaleava nor UCLA has detailed the standards he wanted from the incoming staff.

Chesney said their conversations quickly clarified why Iamaleava wanted to remain.

> “I realized just first of all how much he loves his family, and how much he wanted to stay here. I realized all those things to be true. I realized that he was a guy that is competitive and wants to know that there’s a program going to be built with people that share his competitive spirit.”

Offensive lineman Julian Armella said Iamaleava has helped bring the offense together.

> “Nico has done a great job of building all of the guys up to make sure that we’re all collectively coming together as a unit.”

Chesney inherited a quarterback around whom he can build instead of beginning with a quarterback search. Iamaleava experienced both sides of UCLA’s 2025 season: the Penn State win and the five losses that followed.

The leadership vacancy remains above the program. Tim Harris is serving in an unpaid interim role as chief executive and director of athletics, but UCLA has not named Jarmond’s permanent successor or said how it will address the department’s debt.

Iamaleava’s Tennessee dispute will remain part of his story. His choice to stay, though, keeps a proven starter in place for a coach taking over a roster that needs more than another personnel reset.

Iamaleava did not prevent UCLA’s 3-9 finish last season, and UCLA has not specified what Chesney will change on the field. Retaining the quarterback was the first move, not the turnaround.

At California on Sept. 5, the first result under Chesney will offer the initial read on whether UCLA can avoid another poor start after last season’s 0-4 opening. Iamaleava’s touchdowns and turnovers will provide the clearest box-score measure of whether his flashes become steadier production.

The Sept. 12 home opener against San Diego State also puts Rose Bowl attendance against last season’s 37,282 average.

“I want to win games,” Iamaleava said, “and everything else will come with that.”