Quote from Phillip Fulmer will have Tennessee Vols fans even more excited for the 2024 season

Tennessee Vols fans are undoubtedly excited for the 2024 season to start -- in large part because redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava is set to take over as the program's starter this fall.

The former five-star recruit is one of the most hyped players in recent memory thanks to his highly-publicized recruitment and his elite athleticism. And it seems like everyone, including former Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer, is anxious to see him take over as the signal-caller in Josh Heupel's potent up-tempo offense.

Fulmer joined WNML's Josh and Swain this week and he revealed that he thinks Iamaleava is "special".

“This young guy now, Nico, is for real,” said Fulmer. “He is for real. I’ve been around a lot of good ones, but this guy is really, really special. We just have to keep him healthy and keep the younger ones coming, too. But if he stays healthy, it could be a very exciting offensive football team which leads to a really exciting football team.”

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Fulmer has been around some great quarterbacks -- Heath Shuler, Peyton Manning, Tee Martin, and Casey Clausen (just to name a few) -- so he certainly knows what a high-level SEC quarterback looks like.

Of course, Fulmer isn't say anything new -- the praise for Iamaleava has been plentiful this offseason. Instead, Fulmer's comments are just further confirmation that Tennessee has a special player under center. And that likely has Vols fans even more excited for the season to finally start on August 31 against Chattanooga.

Related: Former Vols OC Alex Golesh gets candid about taking over a tough situation at Tennessee in 2021