What Florida State's NIL violations mean for NCAA, college sports

The NCAA finally made its move on Thursday night, coming down with penalties against Florida State for NIL violations.

The term NIL — which stands for name, image and likeness — became a catchall term in the summer of 2021 after the NCAA installed its interim policy for athletes to start profiting from endorsement deals. Shortly after, booster-funded NIL collectives were born, raising funds to attract and retain top talent.

Up until Thursday night’s announcement, collectives were operating fearlessly. Nearly 200 of the organizations exist, with college football’s blue bloods operating on multi-million budgets. Offering top high school prospects lucrative financial packages has become commonplace.

The NCAA has struggled over the past 30 months to come down on institutions and boosters with penalties. The Miami women’s basketball program was leveled sanctions last winter for impermissible contact with the Cavinder Twins. But Florida State offensive coordinator Alex Atkins being dealt a two-year show cause and three-game suspension is the most drastic step by the NCAA to govern NIL activity.

It’s the first related to a recruiting inducement in the NIL Era, too. According to Yahoo! Sports, the NCAA’s enforcement team has screenshots of text messages from sitting head coaches sent directly to players competing on other college teams in attempts to get them to transfer schools.

Mike Norvell was not mentioned in the negotiated resolution released and will not face penalties.

“We are pleased to reach closure to this situation and view this as another step in strengthening our culture of compliance at Florida State University,” Florida State athletic director Michael Alford said in a statement. “We take all compliance matters very seriously, and our full cooperation with the NCAA on this case is a clear example of that commitment. We remain committed to compliance with all NCAA rules including disassociation of the booster and collective.”

What happened at Florida State?

The findings released by the NCAA Committee on Infractions described Atkins facilitating impermissible contact between a transfer portal athlete and a booster. The offensive coordinator drove the athlete to a meeting with the booster, where the supporter proposed an NIL opportunity with the Rising Spear NIL collective worth $15,000 per month. The deal would have been contingent on his enrollment at Florida State.

The prospect ultimately did not land at Florida State, instead returning to his prior school and not signing an agreement with the booster or collective.

As part of the investigation, the institution and enforcement staff concluded Atkins violated unethical conduct rules by providing false or misleading information about the violations. In meetings with enforcement staff, the offensive coordinator denied meeting with the athlete or his family, along with the booster. Because of that, he was evaluated for being assessed a Level I violation. Instead, he will serve a suspension and show-cause along with a two-week restriction on communication and restriction from off-campus recruiting during fall 2023.

Florid State has been fined $5,000 plus 1% of its football budget. The program has been placed on a two-year probation and reduced five scholarships over that period. The booster and NIL collective has been disassociated with the school, too.

NIL collectives react to violations

Speaking to reporters in November, Matt Rhule was honest about the current marketplace in college sports. The sitting Power 5 head coach was blunt about the cost of landing an elite quarterback in college football’s free agency, stating “a good quarterback in the portal costs $1 million to $1.5 million to $2 million right now.”

Rhule’s words were the most clear-cut description of how NIL has reshaped the landscape. As has been reaffirmed by multiple agents, top talent is being paid in the sport. Plus, athletes aren’t afraid to enter the transfer portal just to figure out their worth.

Thursday night’s news was a sign the NCAA is going to enforce its rules and not allow for “chaos” — even if it has become more business-like. Speaking to a range of NIL collective leaders on Thursday night, they echoed frustrations and described the NCAA’s move as a joke.

“It’s ridiculous,” one source said. “You might as well just punish everyone. Nobody is innocent and you can’t allow your program to fall years behind.”

Added another leader: “Part of me is losing faith in them at a rapid pace. Every move they make is more and more embarrassing.”

NCAA showing its teeth with NIL enforcement

College leaders have grown more and more frustrated with the NCAA for its lack of enforcement related to NIL activities, specifically recruiting inducements and pay-for-play. Both commonplace in college football, the NCAA has commonly referenced a lack of evidence as a driving factor to the few number of penalties.

That all changed on Thursday, yet it remains to be seen if this is an outlier or the start of a pattern. It also comes on the same day the NCAA Division I Board of Directors formally tasked the Division I Council with working on specific recommendations related to Charlie Baker’s progressive plan for the NCAA, which would establish a new subdivision for like-minded, highly resourced schools to craft their own policies and directly pay athletes at least $30,000 annually through a trust fund.

When that plan could truly be put into place remains to be seen. The NCAA has not found much movement in pushing Congress for federal legislation.

But the NCAA made its move, sending a message to collectives and schools that NIL infractions won’t go unnoticed. Thursday could mark the beginning of a new era for NIL.