Nico Iamaleava's father calls out former Tennessee football walk-on for social media post

Nico Iamaleava’s father calls out former Tennessee football walk-on for social media post

Posted by author October 29, 2024 Football

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The father of Tennessee football quarterback Nico Iamaleava, called out a former Vols walk-on and former Waverly High School offensive line coach, Clay Keaton, Monday for what Nicholaus Iamaleava said was a message Keaton sent his son through direct message from Keaton’s X account, formerly Twitter, Oct. 19.

The Vols played Alabama Oct. 19, beating the Tide, 24-17. Over a week later, Nicholaus Iamaleava took a screenshot of a direct message that came from the account of Clay Keaton that read “You dumb (expletive)”.

Nicholaus Iamaleava responded Monday on his own X account: “Hey @ClayKeaton65 Nico was busy helping UT beat Alabama. You should try the same with your HS team since you’re 0-9 instead of jumping into kids DMs. But here’s the attention you was looking for. Shout out to all the real Vol fans! #GBO”.

Waverly football coach Randall Boldin told The Tennessean on Tuesday that Keaton actually has not been on the Tigers coaching staff this season.

“This issue was brought to our attention (Monday) afternoon,” Boldin said in an email. “However, Clay Keaton is not on our staff this season. Mr. Keaton coached with us last season, but started a new job and was not back with us this season.”

Boldin said he tried to reach out to Keaton on Monday to have Keaton remove his ties to Waverly’s football program from his social media profile but was unable to reach him. Keaton’s X account profile no longer mentions Waverly, but his profile photo is of him on the Tigers’ sideline.

The Tennessean reached out to a parent of Keaton with a message to contact the newspaper for a comment, but was unsuccessful.

“We, as a school and football program, do not condone his actions, and had he been currently on our staff he would have been let go,” Boldin said.

Nico Iamaleava was 14-of-27 for 194 yards passing with a touchdown against Alabama. Tennessee outscored the Crimson Tide, 24-10 in the second half for its second win against the Tide in three seasons.

Keaton, a Grace Christian Academy of Knoxville graduate, was a 6-foot-6, 300-pound offensive lineman who was a walk-on at Tennessee as a freshman in 2015.

Reach sports writer George Robinson at georgerobinsontheleafchronicle.com and on the X platform (formerly Twitter) @Cville_Sports.