Tennessee football made the biggest splash of the offseason Monday with the addition of five-star 2023 quarterback Nicholaus Iamaleava. He’s the program’s fourth-highest rated commit ever, per the 247Sports Composite, and is the Vols’ first five-star quarterback of the internet era.
There’s a certain irony to Tennessee adding its highest-rated QB since Peyton Manning and it not being his nephew Arch Manning, but this is also representative of what finally feels like a new promising era of Tennessee football with an exciting new offense and what feels like an all-in mentality from boosters. Given the SEC East remains wide open behind Georgia, that combination gives the Vols a real opportunity to establish a foothold.
Mostly, however, this is an announcement Tennessee is again relevant on the national stage, because that’s what signing a five-star quarterback has meant in the 247Sports era, which began in 2010. Signing a five-star quarterback requires a certain level of competitiveness, or at least investment within a program. Just look at the teams who’ve signed five-star 247Sports Composite quarterbacks since 2010.
Those schools represent all but four College Football Playoff teams since the format debuted in 2014 and all but one national champion (LSU). Even those schools who haven’t reached the playoff, like Penn State, Texas A&M, Florida, Ole Miss and Auburn, have had their moments in the national spotlight.
