Florida Football: In a sport with almost no rules, FSU still managed to get caught
November was not a great month for Florida football as the Gators went into a free fall to finish the 5-7 season. But if you ignore early signing day, the time period since their loss to FSU to close out the 2023 season has been quite fun to indulge in.
And after watching FSU throw a six week pity party after not being invited to the college football playoffs, the NCAA decided they had had enough of the whining and slapped FSU with multiple NIL violations yesterday.
Florida Football: Misery Loves Company
When we last checked in on our Neighbors to the West, they were coming off the heels of being eviscerated by Georgia 63-3.
"Hey man, those were the back ups and weren't the guys that led FSU to a 13-0 season"
They were. Um, but those back ups are about to be the starters in 2024, so have fun with that.
"Nah uhh. We have the number five ranked transfer portal class in the country while Florida has the 32nd ranked class. *laughing emoji* *crying emoji* *poop emoji*"
Ah yes, the transfer portal. Do you mean the thing where you entice recruits to come to your school with NIL money? And even though NIL has virtually no rules, you still managed to get caught breaking the rules?
Based on a report from Yahoo Sports and later confirmed by the NCAA, FSU will have to disassociate from their NIL collective, The Rising Spear, for three years, will have a reduction in scholarships and a reduction of in-person recruiting by 18 days during the spring 2024 period, among other penalties.
The issue stems from offensive coordinator Alex Atkins driving a recruit to meet with members of The Rising Spear in the Spring of 2022. In the lawless world of NIL, that is still considered a big no no. NIL collectives are to be considered a separate entity from the football team itself and coaches are barred from facilitating deals with their collectives.
And while there are proposals to eliminate the restrictions and allow coaches to put players in contact with their collectives, Atkins broke a serious rule at the time and has been personally hit with a three game suspension to begin the 2024 season and a two-year show cause penalty.
Now if we are being fair, these penalties are 100% petty and we are going to take a wild guess that FSU is far from the only team that broke this rule. Plus, FSU has been putting more effort into The Battle's End over the last year.
But for a school that just spent an entire month trying to insist that they were in fact the best team in college football, the good news for FSU is that they can in fact raise a banner after all.
"FSU, First Team To Be Hit With Major NIL Sanctions"
- Banner to be put up, we're assuming