Russell Report: More bad news for Gator football as NCAA investigates the program

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - The news for Florida on the athletic front continues to be not good.

Football is struggling, men’s basketball is trying to find its footing, some are calling for the head of the athletic department to be fired. Now add to all of that an NCAA investigation into the football program.

When the story broke a few days ago, it took almost everyone by surprise. Since that dark time in Gator athletics when the NCAA hammered the football program which eventually led to the SEC stripping the Gators of its first SEC title in 1984, and then with another issue a few years later, the Florida athletic department has over the years worked diligently to be in compliance with the NCAA. For those of us who were around in the 1980′s we remember how the athletic department reacted to those sanctions and one Jeremy Foley vowed to never put the gator program in that situation again. Those sanctions were viewed as a stain, a black mark, never to be seen again.

Let’s not get melodramatic here. We don’t know exactly what this notice of inquiry is and we don’t know the allegations surrounding it. But published reports say, and common sense tells you, this is more than likely about the recruitment of quarterback Jaden Rashada. Remember, UF President Ben Sasse reportedly received the NCAA letter back in June so the wheels I’m sure are in motion to answer whatever charges or questions the NCAA may have for Florida.

If I had to guess, and it is purely a guess, I think this has to do with what happened in the deal that Rashada received when he came to Florida, a deal that reportedly was worth some $13M dollars with the Gator collective which at the time was involved in negotiating and handing out NIL deals to Gator athletes. The deal ultimately fell through, and he signed with Arizona State.

Again, the exact details of what the NCAA is looking at, or asking about, or making allegations about, is not known at this time and generally NCAA investigations take a rather long time to complete. But it is interesting that this comes on the heels of the NCAA cracking down on Florida State for using nil as a recruiting inducement, the first school to be punished for this. Florida State was placed on two years probation and was forced to disassociate with one of its collectives for a year and received other penalties as well.

Timing is everything and the timing of this certainly is not good. But before jumping to any conclusions, we will all have to wait until this process is finished and to see what the outcome actually is. It’s another confusing and frustrating cog in the wheel that is name, image and likeness in the head spinning changes that are now the landscape of college athletics. I’m Steve Russell, that’s the Russell Report!

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