Former SEC Coach Names Dark Horse to Win 2025 Playoffs

College football never ends and predictions for the next season don’t stop.

Former Florida Gators and Ohio State coaching legend Urban Meyer believes one team in the SEC will return to the playoff next season. This time, the Volunteers are being touted as possible College Football Playoff National Champions in 2025, he told Triple Option Podcast listeners.

“Nico (Iamaleava), the quarterback at Tennessee,” Meyer said on Wednesday’s episode of The Triple Option podcast with Rob Stone and Mark Ingram. “I remember when I first started studying them last year and I called Brady Quinn and Matt Leinart and said, ‘What am I missing here? This guy looks like a bonafide … he looks like Aaron Rodgers.’ The ball comes out of his hand like a tennis ball.”

Iamaleava had an exceptional first year as a starter for the Volunteers completing 64% of his passes for 2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns and only five interceptions. He can also got it done on the ground rushing for 358 yards and another three scores.

He was a tad inconsistent but flashed enough brilliance to back up his 5-star rating out of high school. Tennessee finished last season with a 10-3 (6-2 SEC) overall record and the programs first playoff appearance, a first round loss to Ohio State at the Horseshoe.

“He got really inconsistent and that team around him got a little inconsistent, and they still had a heck of a year,” Meyer continued about Iamaleava. “If that kid grows as a quarterback, I asked the question after watching, and I know he wasn’t playing great teams, but just his physical ability, his size, speed, athleticism, [how] the ball comes out, I saw him as a high first-round draft pick. Now, it remains to be seen, but I’ll pick Tennessee.”