Hayes: Jaden Rashada, NIL and a growing problem that will only get bigger

Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier leads his team out of the tunnel and onto the field at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, October 15, 2022. Before the start of the LSU game. LSU defeated the Gators 45-35. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun] Ncaa Football Florida Gators Vs Lsu Tigers

Let’s just say, for fun’s sake, that Jaden Rashada was offered millions to sign with Florida.

Let’s just say, for fun’s sake, that Rashada decommitted from Miami and signed with Florida because a collective connected to the Gators had a verbal agreement to pay a high school player more than a starting NFL quarterback.

Let’s just say, for fun’s sake, that a heavy hitting Gators booster (or boosters) who funds the collective saw the numbers that were offered after signing day, and said you must be out of your mind if you think I’m paying that.

Now let’s just say, for fun’s sake, you’re Florida coach Billy Napier. How in the world do you coach that player?

Rashada on Tuesday reportedly asked for his releases from Florida, but this stupefyingly strange situation isn’t unique to Rashada or the Gators. The overwhelming questions remain for all involved.

How does Napier or any coach bring in a high school player ranked No. 35 on the 247Sports composite, and explain to the rest of your roster that this is your quarterback from Day 1 — knowing full well the team knows he allegedly signed a multi-million dollar NIL deal.

No competition. No work. No building and bonding and leadership and chemistry, and all of those things that turn talented teams into dangerous teams.

Just walk into the building and the job is yours.

Because if you think any coach is going to sit a freshman signee who has a fat NIL contract, you clearly haven’t watched this nonsense play out. The genie, everyone, is out of the bottle.

Exhibit A: The Texas A&M Aggies.

The greatest collection of high school talent ever, the best recruiting class in the history of recruiting rankings — all bought and paid for, according to a certain incredibly envious coach — led to 5 wins.

Five.

And — I know this is hard to fathom (that’s sarcasm, folks) — 7 players from that star-studded class have already hit the transfer portal and found new homes.

Meanwhile, the coach of the program who signed the greatest class ever has officially hit the panic button, hiring a nomadic program-killer to coordinate his offense and coach — this is just so rich — a 5-star talent at quarterback.

From the same damn recruiting class.

Let me explain the 1 thing that will absolutely gut a team: a high school player who signs a fat NIL deal and — because he’s not a better player than the guy in front of him — doesn’t play.

I know in this world of branding and social media and “I” before “we” that it’s hard to imagine, but there are some guys who actually want it more. Who will work harder and are consistent in their preparation and will get on the field — because the goal every day is getting better and winning games.

Not getting the highest NIL deals on the field.

So I don’t care who offered what to which recruit at Florida. I don’t care who reneged on what terms and for how long.

Because the more high school players are paid, the more problematic it becomes to seamlessly assimilate to the program. The more problems with the buy-in, the less chance of winning.

I’ve said from Day 1 that players must get everything they can, when they can. Once programs have no use for you, they’re on to the next player with the next NIL deal.

This isn’t about players and money. These guys have been on the short end of the deal for 150 years. Don’t blame them.

This is about the convergence of coaches and boosters in college football, and the dangers of that tenuous relationship now out in the open. Years ago, when money changed hands under the table, it was easy for coaches and players to control boosters.

Players never spoke of receiving cash because it’s taxable income. Boosters never spoke of giving cash because Uncle Sam wants to know how much and where and when.

It was dirty, but it was their dirty. Now that it’s scrubbed clean and forced into the open, the human condition has taken over and changed every dynamic.

Now there’s entitlement and bruised egos and players leaving after 1 season. There are fractured locker rooms, and underachieving teams.

There are boosters wondering why the guy they paid $50,000 isn’t playing — and what about their rate of return?

And if you don’t play him, I’ll find somebody who will.

Where you once simply stopped leaving paper bags of cash in a bus locker when a player wasn’t performing, there are now legal contracts that can be litigated.

There are now shady “advisors” and third-party “go-betweens” who are steering 18-year-olds through the depths of the underbelly of the sport. They’re using the media to throw out ridiculous, laughable numbers being offered — in Rashada’s case, $13 million — because the only market value is what they determine.

For so long, players were being used by universities. Now they’re being used by “advisors.”

Now let’s look, for fun’s sake, at the Jaden Rashada story through that lens. A broken NIL deal — who cares what reason — of a player who isn’t even a top-30 recruit, sidetracking the positive recruiting momentum of Napier and leaving his program wallowing in the narrative of reneging on NIL deals.

The genie, ffs, is out of the bottle.

So is everything that goes with it.

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  • If these NIL deals are indeed legal, why is nothing in writing? Why is everything so secretive? Thirteen million is a ridiculous amount to pay any high school kid who has never even attended a college practice. I have a hard time believing that amount is accurate.

    • The actual agreements are in writing, but there’s no law or NCAA rule that forces their publication. So, they remain secret because it’s not convenient for either party to any such deal that it become public knowledge.

      On the other hand, the $13 million deal is pure fiction thrown out there to stir the pot and boy has it succeeded in doing that!

        • Marsh, Rashada gave no indication that he had any issues with his NIL agreement until NLI signing day. He would have verbally de-committed had the NIL agreement been withdrawn before that fateful day.

          Everything changed on that day in late December. The 13 million dollar question is why?

        • Marsh, this tells me you probably don't want this kid in your program?

          It begs the question too, and from the aTm experience this is definitely why Klempson (Dabo) stuck with DG Ukalele for so long when he really was a horrible QB.

        • SicEm, there’s another major reason why Dabo played the Ukulele until Clemson’s season went down the toilet. It’s the same reason Mullen stuck with Franks for a year plus with Trask just sitting there, waiting to become the next Gator star QB. I just can’t explain it further without gettIng “moderated” right off the SDS site forever.

        • Anyone who didn't see this coming is a fool. The upside seems to be that for every good player you lose you pick up a good player. IMO, recruiting the portal is now equally or more important than spending tons of time recruiting unproven hs players.

    • My understanding is that this is along the lines of many contracts in that the number released by the agent is the top end end number (ex. Coach's deal is worth $50 mil over three years if every player meets academic requirement and the team wins the conference and NCAA title all three years). In the same way, maybe Rashada's deal could have been worth up to $13 mil over five years if he met certain performance parameters that would make him more valuable.

      As far as not being in writing, as I understand it, the deals cannot be tied to attendance at a certain institution. Thus, they have a conversation, where I assume there is a lot of winking, where a player is told "someone like you could expect a contract worth $XXX if you signed with our collective. Then, after they have signed an NLI and are tied to the school, the actual contract is put forth.

      • That’s most likely the way it typically goes down.

        However, in Rashada’s case, what was put in front of him, after he signed his NLI, was the same deal he’d agreed to when he flipped from Miami in November, not whatever new figures his agent communicated in December… after the “Oregon’s collective” came a calling.

        • The CA legislation that kicked all of this off specifically provides for performance incentives. NIL is to be earned according to how an athlete performs.

          Most states have incentive clauses for coaches, salespeople, etc.

        • Straight from the law: Quote.
          Can NIL deals be performance based?
          For example, a NIL deal can't include performance-based incentives. Similarly, brands and high school athletes need to make sure they are not adversely impacting the high school athlete's eligibility by entering a deal that is not allowed by the state high school athletic association.Nov 23, 2022

        • JTF, I've somehow acquired the idea that you're an attorney - or at least work in a legal setting. If so, bottom line is that your input can no doubt settle much misinformation here.

        • Coaches in college have performance-based incentives galore...make a bowl game $50k, win bowl $100k, make conference champ $250k, etc.

        • @SatOnThePlains: And coaches are legitimate, hired employees of the University. Players are not, as of yet.

    • "Scrubbed clean?" Not so.

      NIL was never intended to be used as a recruiting tool. To do so is an NCAA violation but the NCAA after the 9-0 Supreme Court butt-kicking is not looking for more litigation.

      Deals are in writing. Players assign their NIL rights to 'the collective' paying them the $. Players get a 1099 and are responsible for state and federal taxes. I assume the collective provides accounting services as part of the deal.

      Out of control as of now but the market will ultimately determine the extent of these deals.

    • 1.3 was probably what was offered and someone misunderstood it as 13 million! I mean if you have 13 million to spend. You can buy 13 super players for that amount!!!!!!

      Negan

  • Matt, this has been going on for decades at the D1 level. However, just not at these types of numbers we are seeing today. There are just a few differences which add up to the SHEET storm we now have.

    1) HS kids can now have a representative (Agent) openly shop their services

    2) Social media and writers looking for clicks on the internet. See Matt Hayes.

    3) LAWYERS and shady wanna be lawyers hanging around HS kids instead of college stadiums for the soon to be Juniors &Seniors

    4) Parents looking for the Tiger Woods benefits

    Everyone is making money off of this situation.

    Rashada is now broken goods. No matter where he goes every player, coach and potential player will be wondering why he is somehow worth 13 mm.

    Now, here’s the really big problem. How does his teammates trust him? This will tear any team apart from the inside/out. How do the coaches trust a 17-18 year old kid that has never played a down of upper level football and not developed properly physically. Mentally already told he has nothing to prove because he’s just that much better.

    The gigantic circus has just began and will send programs that have spent decades building a culture or brand into a tailspin.

    • The really big problem from my perspective is how do any future UF recruits trust the collective to follow through, given how the system is currently configured. Until the NIL deal can be signed before the NLI, they will have to have faith that the verbal agreement is going to become the enforceable agreement and if Rashada had the rug pulled out from under him (I am not saying that is what happened, but it does appear to be one of the possible scenarios) then that will be a problem going forward.

      • You make a good point RWS. “Until the NIL deal can be signed before the NLI, they will have to have faith that the verbal agreement is going to become the enforceable agreement.”

        Having spent my entire forty-year career in the contracting business, I can practically guarantee that the only FIRM “agreement” EVER worked out between the Gator collectives and Rashada’s agent was the original “agreement” that led to Rashada happily flipping his commitment from Miami to UF. There was no FIRM “agreement” that could possibly have been negotiated at the 11th hour on early NLI signing day and it was the subsequent negotiation of those new details that led to Rashada not enrolling at UF, as previously agreed.

        Now, here we are, with a lot of fictional figures floating around the internet and both sides pointing fingers at each other for why “the agreement” fell apart. I’ll bet it wasn’t the original “agreement” that fell apart, because if it was, then Lagway would have followed Rashada right out of Hogtown!

    • I think we will likely see a market correction before programs crater; or, a Super League with a CFB players union, restrictions on transfers, salary caps, and direct pay-for-play.

      Quite likely the Super Conference will hold a draft of HS players. I expect universities will outsource all of their connection to football for a fee. Perhaps there will be 32 teams each one 'adopted' by an NFL team?

  • Don’t cry in your beer now Hayes. You and all the other national sports writers who screamed that these poor athletes were being taken advantage of by Athletic Depts, disregarding the obvious advantages they had, are now seeing the results and unintended consequences of your actions. And it’s just getting started. Your right, the genie is out of the bottle, and you are your ilk opened it. Own it.

    • Completely agree. It's funny watching people like Hayes complain about the very situation they created.

      "These guys have been on the short end of the deal for 150 years." Pure B. S. These guys have been given the opportunity of a lifetime to better themselves and their families by making college attainable.

    • Exactly. How many other students would like the opportunity to go to school fully funded.
      I also blame the NCAA because they should have recognized years ago the hours put in for all athletes and reduced the class load and allowed the ability to make living expenses as long as the source was declared and not outside norms for the job being done..

    • Bingo. And what isn’t even mentioned is, does anybody really believe these kids are actually doing any school work? ‘College’ football died at the D1 level when NIL was implemented. Just adopt the NFL rules and let the kids that really want an education pay for it out of their salary.

  • As much as most of us old guys hate the idea, the only solution may be the players forming a union and signing a collective bargained agreement. Short of Congress getting involved and somehow waiving antitrust laws for the programs, that's the only way to install caps and level the playing field.

    • Yeah, and that's the next shoe. Athletes become employees of the University or the NCAA. Then Collective Bargaining. Then say goodbye to Womens Volleyball.

    • It sure will suck having to pay taxes on all those worthless benefits they receive every year. Who knew the short end of the stick was worth north of $100K every year?

    • In every NIL transaction the money that changes hands is either someone’s income or it is a gift. Either way, someone who is a party to the transaction is legally obligated to characterize and report the transaction on a tax return. Maybe some of the new 87,000 new revenue agents can sort that out and deal with whomever fails to file the proper return and pay the taxes due. Bring that down to the state level where income taxes are due so boosters will have to worry about whether the government people who are responsible for collecting taxes might now or in later years also be fans of enemy teams and might be interested in tax audits and prosecution of offending boosters. Most taxing authorities can, and will, audit present and prior years’ returns creating long-term worries. When boosters have to worry about the politics of audits and whether players and handlers, er “advisors”, are paying taxes to avoid being caught up in a conspiracy to evade taxes we may have a real solution to the NIL problem. Should you think all of this is nuts, then consider what might happen if the more numerous “have-nots” band together to force conferences to properly characterize “advisors” who are compensated for their services as “agents” whose signing currently results in immediate player ineligibility. Wouldn’t teams hunting in the portal have to make sure that a target player with a previous NIL deal did not share the money with a de facto agent?

      • Really? How about making employers provide decent working conditions, a living wage, medical insurance, proper safety rules and equipment, paid vacations, just to name a few.

        You know, all those things people like you take for granted!

        • I got all of that without a stinkn union...AND, when companies I worked for had to cut back, they could actually KEEP the hard working employees with less union seniority plus one didn't have to be related to the B.A. or his cousin..

    • I agree Sparky. An NFL Lite is coming. Players will play for the assignee of 'everything football' assigned by the assignor university for a fixed fee and indemnity from litigation.

    • ^^^ We ain’t seen NOTHIN’ compared to the shítstorm that’ll rain down on CFB when this eventually comes to pass. Throw Title IX and a hair-trigger Congress into this witch’s brew, and the chaos will be complete.

  • I wish I had been the recipient of the "short end of the deal" when I attended college. Free tuition, free place to stay, tutors, no need for a part-time job, all my equipment paid for....man what a rough life that would be.

  • The most hilarious lie in the entire awful article can be found at he end:

    "... sidetracking the POSITIVE recruiting momentum of Napier..."

    Hahahahahahahahaha! Positive recruiting momentum?

    Hahahahahahahahaha! Oh, that's rich, Hayes! That's absolutely a gasser!

    Whew boy... that is the very definition of a laugh-out-loud whopper of a lie!

    Dude is literally recruiting the same kind of middle of the SEC classes that got YOUR boy Sideshow Dan the Clown fired.

        • He's being facetious, or at least, he should be, as these are the exact same kinds of classes Cousin Eddie brought into Gainesville. The same kind of classes that got him fired, you dumb 'turd.

        • None of Mullen’s classes were close to this one. The talent average is the best it’s been in 13 seasons.

          You were never one to be very observant. Now run along, bonehead.

    • The signed class to date ranks fifth in the country in average player rating. Mullen never got anywhere near that high.

  • The issue and why UF shouldnt release him is, what do they do for QB now? Its going to be virtually impossible to sign multiple Qb's in a class with the $$$ they are "demanding" so now Jaden flakes and the gators dont have a QB. Dont give me the DJ 24 spew, cause who knows how this plays out. Im not sure how UF and Napier can recover from this!

    • I think we’ll be ok. If anything, we dodged a locker room problem. It’s just unfortunate that it was played out publicly. And Napier had nothing to do with any of it.

      • Did Napier not recruit the kid? He showed earlier on that him/parents could be an issue, same with Cormani..... We are being sold Napier is an "elite recruiter, a high character guy" nothing I've seen to this point!

        • Really??? One individual with an issue and it defines the whole class? Let’s create a list of coaches who bat 1.000 with their classes. There aren’t any.

        • It appears to me that Napier is showing he has high class but not allowing players to walk in the door with the cancer sign flashing.

        • For all we know, Napier heard about the deal the Clown Collective had made and said no way. But we don't know and we probably won't know.

          But what we do know: This isn't on Rashada, and it isn't on Napier.

        • Nash, not a chance. The school and Napier would have been out in front of this if that was the case. Now we are the clowns of CFB!

    • UF like all big-time schools is far more likely to find their starting QB in the transfer portal.

    • To me, the reason they cannot release him is that if they do, they will signal everyone how to steal a top player. The player makes his decision and is offered a deal. Then after NLI day a school swoops in and tells said player we will beat what you have been promised by X amount of dollars. The players then wish to be released, and you have more of a mess. If he has signed his NLI make him honor it, or he can use his "one time free transfer."

      • You make a good point Tidefan, but have you ever had to deal with an employee that hates his job? I have and it’s not very pretty, or good for the rest of the organization.

  • this is the beginning of the end. if college football turns into huge budgets for paying players the whole economy of colleges and universities is going to fall apart. football money flows everywhere and there simply isn't enough to pay millions every year for the next crop of recruits and still let everyone wet their beaks.

    • This is the logical progression of the BCS monetizing CFB. Turning CFB into a national rather than regional sport. BCS to a playoff to expanded playoff to NIL Lite.

  • Ahh the good ole days when you deceptively handed off dough in mcdonalds bags or fedex envelopes that busted open in the sorting center or the $100 handshakes. You know the good ole days of wine and roses and illegal payments. Now its legal and out in the open and nothing more than a bidding war for a lot of players and NILs. Those calling for congress to get involved are crazy if they think a congress that cant get anything done that really means something to the country will tackle this and even if they did to think they would actually resolve it in some way is laughable. they would be too busy trying to figure out how to get their share of that NIL money and what all is woke about it... Congress is defunct. Its the wild wild west in college sports and thats just the way it is. A union, making them employees, with collective bargaining is the only possible way this gets put under control. Until then all a coach/team/school/collective can do is play the game. This will never and I mean NEVER be under control until the players become employees and unionize. Sure some mega donors will say "you must be out iof your mind" and then some others will say "how much do I write the check for". It stinks but is what it is so play the game or get left behind.

    • Yes, the good old days. I remember them well. Back in the late ‘60’s, I had a cousin who was a HS All American QB and was heavily being recruited. He narrowed his school choice to Norte Dame and LSU. He chose LSU. Nothing was ever said, but I found it coincidental that not long after his signing, he was driving a shinny new Mustang and a den was added on to his parents house. Paid for by a booster? We’ll never know. Coincidental? Definitely yes.
      Unfortunately, we never saw his greatness on the field. A week before the start of the season in which he’d had been the starter, he passed away due to a brain aneurysm.

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Matt Hayes