Florida Gators part ways with NIL director Marcus Castro-Walker
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida has parted ways with Marcus Castro-Walker, the director of NIL and player engagement. He’s no longer listed on the UAA staff directory.
“Marcus Castro-Walker is not employed by the athletic department,” UF spokesperson Steve McClain said in a statement to Gators Online.
Castro-Walker was hired by Florida coach Billy Napier in December 2021 and his job title was the first of its kind in college athletics.
“Marcus has been fantastic,” Napier said last February. “Much like all of college football, he’s in a position that’s a new market relative to working hard, researching and keeping up with what’s going on out there. Helping out players with all the situations they encounter. There’s a big education piece here — really a new market that I think is being manipulated and we’ve got to do our job relative to helping our players not get taken advantage of contractually. There are a ton of logistics that go into this and Marcus is doing a good job leading the charge. ”
Castro-Walker is involved in the NCAA investigation into the Gators football program, which centers around the recruitment of four-star quarterback Jaden Rashada. He flipped from Miami to Florida on Nov. 10, 2022, after signing an NIL deal with the now-defunct Gator Collective for $13.85 million over four years.
Less than a month later, the contract was terminated on Dec. 7. Rashada still signed early with UF but never enrolled last January and was released from his letter of intent after the NIL deal fell through, landing at Arizona State.
“We have been and will continue to cooperate with the NCAA,” McClain said in a statement to GO on Jan. 19. “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.”
Castro-Walker joined the UF program after one year at Nebraska as the Huskers’ director of player development for Scott Frost. Castro-Walker worked closely with Frost to manage and oversaw many off-field responsibilities for Nebraska players.
Prior to Nebraska, Castro-Walker spent four years as the director of college personnel at Arizona State. Previously, he also worked in a similar role at the University of Central Florida, under Frost.
Castro-Walker first joined the Sun Devils in 2008 as a graduate assistant. He worked with the Office of Student-Athlete Development (OSAD) while obtaining his master’s degree in higher and post-secondary education.
After graduating from his master’s program at ASU, he began working with the football program. He assisted student-athletes in academic support and life skills training.
