Former Florida commit Jaden Rashada emblematic of the new normal in college football

One of the episodes in Florida Football lore that will forever live in infamy is the saga of Jaden Rashada. The former four-star QB signed with the Gators, then backed out of is LOI due to NIL disagreements,

After eventually landing with Arizona State, Rashada is off to the transfer portal after one season. It is easy to look at Rashada as a one off circus, but the reality is that his story when it's all over is going to be a common tale among players all around the country.

Florida Football: In My Transfer Era

Back in 2022, Rashada felt like he was a lock to land at Florida during the summer before announcing his intention to play for Miami. That lasted four months and Rashada flipped to Florida in November of 2022.

Then in a circus that could rival an SNL skit, Florida's NIL deal with Rashada was comically overvalued and when the Gators tried to back out of the deal, Rashada backed out as well.

Thus wherever Rashada lands out of the transfer portal, it will be the four school he has "committed" to in under two years. The irony is that Rashada seemingly lost his job to someone taking a similar journey as himself. Sam Leavitt was a lower end four star from the class of 2023 as well who was committed to Washington State but flipped to Michigan State a week before signing day. He transferred from East Lansing to Tempe this offseason and beat out Rashada for the starting job.

And it is not just Rashada taking a convoluted college football journey. This week, we highlighted the tales of Cormani McClain and Payton Kirkland, who had recruiting shenanigans themselves and are also in the spring transfer portal after one season.

There are also recruiting stories like Austin Simmons and Peyton Joseph, both of whom committed to Florida but flipped away two months later, or Nick Evers, who flipped to Oklahoma after Dan Mullen was fired but transferred after one season to Wisconsin and is now back in the transfer portal.

There are scores of other players who could be highlighted, but the overall theme is that the days of having a player commit and knowing they would be with your team for four years are long gone. With the updated transfer rule announced this week that allows unlimited transfers, one just has to assume that everyone on the roster is on a one-year contract.

Welcome to the new era of college football.

Or as Taylor Swift fans would say, we are in the Transfer Era.