By Scott Salomon
Last year ended with a gigantic thud for Florida State University This year is starting no better for the Seminoles.
It appears as though things will go from bad to worse for FSU.
First, they get left out of the four-team playoff by the NCAA despite going 13-0 and winning the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship.
Next, they get slaughtered by the University of Georgia in the Orange Bowl 63-3 after dozens of players opt out of the game and refuse to play due to either entering the transfer portal, turning professional, or just simply because they did not want to play in the game and risk injury.
Then, on Wednesday, when Nick Saban retires from Alabama, FSU’s 2023 National Coach of the Year, Mike Norvell, appears to be one of the heavy favorites to leave Florida State and replace Saban as head coach of the Crimson Tide. The proverbial jury is still out as to whether or not Norvell wants to leave Tallahassee for Tuscaloosa.
Finally, on Thursday, FSU was placed on probation by the NCAA for actions stemming from violations concerning the NIL program.
The probation terms are set forth below.
- Two years of probation. Probation includes further educating coaches on NCAA compliance, informing prospects in the football program in writing that the institution is on probation for two years and detail the violations committed (as well as making similar info visible to recruits on official visits or signees), publicly acknowledging the violation via a statement on the athletic department’s website, and more.
- A two-year show cause order for the assistant coach, including a suspension from the next three regular-season games, a two-week restriction on recruiting communication, and required attendance at a NCAA Regional Rules Seminar attendance.
- A restriction from off-campus recruiting during fall 2023 for the assistant coach.
- A three-year disassociation from the booster.
- A one-year disassociation from the collective.
- A $5,000 fine plus 1% of the football budget.
- A 5% reduction in football scholarships over the two-year probationary period, amounting to a total reduction of five scholarships.
- A reduction in official (paid) visits in the football program in the 2023-24 academic year by seven. The school also will not roll over six unused official visits from the 2022-23 academic year.
- A reduction in football recruiting communications for a total of six weeks during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic years.
- A reduction in the number of in-person recruiting days during the 2023-24 academic year by six evaluation days during fall 2023 and 18 during spring 2024.
These violations allegedly occurred last season. Per Yahoo Sports, a Florida State assistant coach, who was identified as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Alex Atkins, initiated an impermissible contact between a booster and a recruit for purposes of inducing him to transfer. The player was identified by 247Sports as Georgia offensive tackle Amarius Mims.
Atkins was slammed with a two-year show cause and was suspended for the first three Seminole games next season. FSU must also cease and desist from having any contact with the booster for three years and said booster may have no contact with the NIL collective for a period of one year.
According to 247Sports, a show-cause order, per the NCAA is an order that “requires a member institution to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Committee on Infractions why it should not be subject to a penalty or additional penalty for not taking appropriate disciplinary or corrective action with regard to an institutional staff member or representative of the institution’s athletics interests found by the Committee on Infractions as having been involved in a violation of NCAA bylaws.”
It was widely speculated that Atkins would be terminated, but word out of the Florida state capitol is that he will remain on staff, per Yahoo Sports.
It has been alleged by the NCAA that Atkins gave the transfer prospect a ride, along with his parents, to meet said booster, who offered Mims an NIL deal worth $15,000 per month if he enrolled and played football at Florida State. That is pay-for-play and is in violation of the NIL rules and the NCAA bylaws.
Mims withdrew from the portal and stayed at Georgia and spurned Florida State, but the Seminoles will continue to pay the price for the actions which were allegedly committed by Atkins and the unnamed booster.
All three sides, Florida State officials, its enforcement staff, and Atkins agreed to the penalties and jointly negotiated the terms of the the probation. It is widely speculated that due to NCAA rules, once terms are jointly negotiated, they cannot be appealed, per CBS Sports.
“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,” FSU 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 the collective.”
It is ironic that FSU gets slammed for the impermissible NIL actions, when they have alleged that Miami booster John Ruiz was doing the exact same things that FSU got smacked for. It is important to note that Ruiz and the Hurricanes have not been charged with anything by the NCAA and there has been no proof of illegal or unethical activity by the involved parties.
