{"id":105852,"date":"2025-12-23T04:21:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T04:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/105852\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T04:21:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T04:21:09","slug":"why-ucla-quarterback-nico-iamaleava-set-to-return-to-bruins-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/105852\/","title":{"rendered":"Why UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava set to return to Bruins in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bob Chesney<\/a> didn\u2019t have to go far to secure his most important player.<\/p>\n

He was already on campus.<\/p>\n

Nico Iamaleava<\/a> has agreed to return to UCLA<\/a> for next season, giving the Bruins a top-level quarterback as part of their new coach\u2019s bid for a quick turnaround from a 3-9 season under his predecessor and an interim coach.<\/p>\n

Iamaleava announced his intentions on Instagram, posting a highlight video alongside a caption reading, \u201cNO PLACE LIKE HOME. Back with my brothers. Same vision. Same goals. Same grind. Locked in. Time to work!\u201d<\/p>\n

The possible benefits go beyond improving Iamaleava\u2019s NFL draft stock with a strong season. Another important plus could be the reputational boost associated with staying put after Iamaleava left Tennessee during spring practice in 2025 as part of an emotionally charged falling out with the Volunteers that sparked widespread criticism<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Remaining a Bruin will also allow the redshirt junior to spend at least one more season on the same team as his brother Madden, who will be a redshirt freshman quarterback after appearing at the end of one game last season.<\/p>\n

None of UCLA\u2019s struggles in 2025 could be blamed on its starting quarterback. Constantly under duress from a pass rush that met little resistance from his offensive line, Iamaleava was his team\u2019s leading passer and rusher despite being sacked 27 times.<\/p>\n

Iamaleava accounted for 17 of his team\u2019s 24 touchdowns and led the Bruins with 10 plays of 20 yards or more, all coming on the ground. Although he wasn\u2019t a prolific passer \u2014 his 255 yards through the air as part of a furious comeback against Nevada Las Vegas were a season high \u2014 Iamaleava\u2019s ability to produce big plays with his arm and his legs presented a huge problem for opposing defenses.<\/p>\n

Iamaleava\u2019s passing accuracy enjoyed a slight uptick from his final season at Tennessee, where he helped the Volunteers reach the College Football Playoff. In his first season as a Bruin after returning home in part to be closer to his family in Long Beach, Iamaleava completed 64.4% of his passes for 1,928 yards and 13 touchdowns with seven interceptions.<\/p>\n

Whether he was scrambling out of the pocket or sprinting on designed quarterback runs, Iamaleava might have been hardest to stop when he planted his feet and took off. He led the team with 505 rushing yards and four touchdowns in 112 carries, including 128 yards and three touchdowns during a victory over then-No. 7 Penn State.<\/p>\n

Equally important was the leadership of a player who unflinchingly met with the media after losses and challenged others. Amid the team\u2019s 0-4 start, Iamaleava told teammates they could leave if they didn\u2019t want to stay and help spark a turnaround. No one did, and the team went on to win its next three games.<\/p>\n

Now Iamaleava is staying put, giving his coach a huge building block as part of his efforts to forge a sturdy foundation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bob Chesney didn\u2019t have to go far to secure his most important player. He was already on campus.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[29620,8932,14542,48,52,51,47,50,49,34261,1459,57193,57194,3238,11491,57192,278,572,780,1092,1539],"class_list":["post-105852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-bruin","tag-bruins","tag-interim-coach","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-nico-iamaleava","tag-part","tag-pass-rush","tag-passer","tag-play","tag-quarterback","tag-same-team","tag-season","tag-tennessee","tag-touchdown","tag-ucla","tag-yard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}