Gainesville, Fla. – Florida coach Billy Napier gave little insight Wednesday into how and why the Gators lost four-star quarterback Jaden Rashada, but said he doesn’t expect it to lead to an NCAA investigation.
Napier sidestepped several questions about Rashada, who signed with Florida in December just to be granted his release a month later after a failed name, picture and likeness deal worth more than $13 million. Napier has repeatedly said NCAA rules prohibit him from giving details.
“I wish we could go into the details, but we can’t,” Napier said. “I think the reality is the current structure of NIL with third parties involved, with agents involved, with marketing representatives, with lawyers, with collectives, (is) very fluid, and I think a very unique dynamic.”
Rashada, who threw for 5,275 yards and 59 touchdowns high in Pittsburgh, Calif. last season, was released Jan. 20 announced on social media on Wednesday that he is committed to his father’s alma materState of Arizona.
Rashada dropped out of Florida after the Gator Collective — an independent fundraising group loosely affiliated with the university that pays student-athletes to have their name, likeness and likeness used — failed to honor a multi-year deal signed by both parties.
The bombshell came just over two months after Rashada moved his verbal pledge from Miami to Florida. Rashada, his reps, and the Gator collective had presumably agreed on the terms of the lucrative deal at the time of his flip.
Rashada declined to sign up with other signers days after playing at a Jan. 3 All-Star game in nearby Orlando. The 19-year-old eventually returned to the West Coast and began looking at other schools.
It’s unclear when Napier realized the deal was falling apart, or how much he even knew about the NIL deal. NCAA rules prohibit coaches from being involved in NIL deals with current or potential players.
“I think you spend your whole life, your whole career, figuring out who you are and how you work,” Napier said. “I think on that basis I can eventually lie down at night. … Ultimately, the good thing here is that I have a lot of confidence in our leadership, the strategy we use and how it benefits our team – the group of players that we have on our team. I think we’re going about it the right way.”
Napier also expressed frustration with the way NIL deals and the recruiting portal have dramatically changed the landscape of college football.
“I think any college football coach would tell you they’re frustrated,” he said. “We live in a fluid dynamic. There are a lot of good things about NIL, but I think the combination of NIL and the portal creates a dynamic.
“We are all aware of the issues and the parameters we are competing with at this point. I think over time the market will calm down.”
Rashada is the fifth grantee quarterback to leave Florida since Napier’s arrival, after Anthony Richardson (NFL draft), backup Jalen Kitna (fired after his child pornography arrest), Emory Jones (transferred to Arizona State) and Carlos Del Rio-Wilson (moved to Syracuse).
The Gators only have three QBs on stipend: Wisconsin transfer and proposed starter Graham Mertz, Jack Miller and Max Brown. Napier said he will be in the market for another transfer this spring.
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