FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Miami Hurricanes have been one of college football’s poster children for name, image and likeness deals since the NCAA began allowing players to capitalize on their popularity in 2021, but one of the seismic moments in this new era of college sports happened farther to the north — though Miami could have been the epicenter.
Blue-chip quarterback Jaden Rashada, a former Hurricanes commit, reportedly agreed to a $13 million NIL deal with groups affiliated with the Florida Gators, only for the deal to fall through after Rashada signed his National Letter of Intent. Rashada, who was committed to the Hurricanes for several months in the summer and fall, has reportedly asked for a release from his letter of intent, reopening his recruitment. He is the first high-profile recruit known to have backed out of a letter of intent over a NIL deal.
“I don’t want to try to sound hyperbolic or anything, but I look back to previous cases in professional sports, the labor law, the Curt Flood free agency-type cases,” 247Sports National Recruiting Editor Brandon Huffman said. “He was a pariah amongst baseball for many years as a result of that. Years later, he’s [respected] for the contributions to sport. I think it could end up being one of those situations where it definitely — you may not see it happen right now, but long term — this is going to be kind of a landmark case in the fact that he was willing to call the bluff.
“He’s probably not going to get a NIL deal as significant as the one that Florida agreed to with him. But he’s willing to walk away from it.”
The multimillion-dollar deal was part of what convinced the California native to flip from Miami to Florida in November, according to the Orlando Sentinel. He appeared locked in with the Gators, even though he sent in his letter of intent later than expected during the Early Signing Period. He told reporters he planned to go to Gainesville after participating in the Under Armour All-America Game in Orlando, but he never enrolled in classes.
In the wake of his decision to stay home in Pittsburg, Calif., the details of Rashada’s expected NIL deal became public.
“I think it’s just a matter of principle,” Huffman added. “If you’re going to say you’re going to give us this and we’re going to sign this, then you better be delivering.”
In Florida, state law prohibits schools and members of the athletic programs from directly paying players or directing NIL contracts their way, leading schools and athletic programs to keep many of the intricacies of players’ NIL deals at arm’s length.
At Miami, many players’ NIL deals have come via wealthy Hurricanes fan John Ruiz’s company, LifeWallet. Other schools, like Florida, have had many NIL deals go through collectives, where fans contribute money toward a fund that is supposed to ultimately go to players.
Miami coach Mario Cristobal said in July that he was happy with how the school has managed the NIL landscape, even though the NCAA reportedly launched an inquiry into Miami’s NIL deals. There has been no publicly reported resolution to the inquiry.
“I think that it seems pretty obvious that as a university, as an athletics program, that our student-athletes have done really well with NIL,” Cristobal said. “As a coach you’re not really allowed to delve in it. You know what I mean? Since it is part of the changes in college football, and it is a constitutional right, we have a positive mindset towards that.”
Huffman said he could see schools pushing for a change in NCAA rules or the law so they can have more control over NIL dealings and avoid situations where outside companies or wealthy individuals influence their recruitment of players.
“This is going to be on the collectives to stop coming up with outlandish numbers and I think it’s going to maybe even accelerate and expedite if the athletic departments are going to start to rein this in more, because they don’t want to lose guys,” Huffman said. “Now what it’s looking like is the collectives are running the recruitment, not the coaches.”
“The reality is the NIL collective at Florida, in this case, is the bogeyman, but Billy Napier’s going to take the fall for it,” Huffman added, “whether it’s fair or unfair.”
In the meantime, Huffman said teams need to keep promoting traditional recruiting pitches like development, academics and facilities in addition to NIL opportunities.
“If this is your recruiting pitch: ‘Hey, we’ve got a great NIL collective that’ll take care of you,’ then you need to get a better recruiting pitch,” Huffman said. “You still need to actually sell the, I don’t know, the football side of things, the development side of things. It’s crazy, but that’s what a lot of schools still do. They still sell the football part. You can’t just make it about what your collective will do.”
As for Rashada, his next steps could prove instrumental for viewing how much influence prospective college athletes have before they arrive on campus. Despite Rashada’s history with the Hurricanes, Miami is not expected to pursue a reunion with the four-star prospect.
Instead, it appears more likely Rashada will stay close to home and give Pac-12 schools a close look. He has a prior relationship with new Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham, who recruited Rashada when he was the offensive coordinator at Oregon. Rashada may give other West Coast schools like California (which was a finalist when he committed to Miami) and Washington a look, as well. Other programs from around the country could be interested, too.
However, Huffman said schools recruiting Rashada will have to balance whether there is public-relations fallout and whether players already on the team may be upset by an unproven freshman earning a potential top-dollar NIL deal.
“I think it’s going to be very fascinating to see how this plays out,” Huffman said, “because I think there are going to still be schools that are interested.”
