The Florida football program is under investigation by the NCAA for undisclosed reasons, All Gators can confirm.
Matt Baker of the Tampa Bay Times first reported the NCAA’s investigation of UF on Friday, indicating that the program received an official notice of inquiry on June 9, 2023.
According to Baker, the elements of the investigation and potential violations are not specified in the notice of inquiry.
“We have been and will continue to cooperate with the NCAA,” UF senior associate athletics director Steve McClain said in a statement regarding the investigation obtained by All Gators on Friday. “We hold ourselves to high standards of excellence and integrity on and off the field. Because we follow NCAA policies about maintaining confidentiality, we are unable to offer additional comments.”
The NCAA’s investigation of Florida came to light more than a week following its landmark sanctioning of Florida State for Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) violations, which involved an attempted inducement of a prospective student-athlete to play for the Seminoles, per multiple reports.
Florida State was placed on a two-year probation, forced to disassociate with the collective involved in the inducement for one season, and saw offensive coordinator Alex Atkins suspended for the first three games of the 2024 season in response to the violations, among other punishments.
Although it remains unclear why Florida is under the microscope of the NCAA currently, it was almost one year ago exactly when the program became entrenched in one of the most notable NIL stories of the modern era of college football.
The Gators released prized class of 2023 quarterback signee, Jaden Rashada, from his National Letter of Intent on Jan. 20, 2023, roughly one month after he signed with the program. Almost immediately, multiple reports surfaced suggesting that a collapsed NIL contract agreement resulted in the breakup.
The deal, reportedly struck between Rashada, his representatives and the now-defunct Gator Collective fundraising group before the quarterback’s signing and enrollment at UF, was reported to be worth north of $13 million.
NCAA rules disallow NIL negotiations or other financial incentives in the recruitment of prospective student-athletes by member programs.
Florida was previously penalized for what was determined to be Level II and III recruiting violations in 2020, in which former Gators head coach Dan Mullen received a one-year show-cause penalty from the NCAA for his involvement.
