Category: Florida State Seminoles

Florida State hit by NCAA for NIL recruiting violations

A look at the the NCAA’s punishment of Florida State for NIL-based recruiting violations.

The NCAA on Thursday announced serious recruiting violations and levied subsequent sanctions against a major college football program in one of the first such cases in the era of name, image, and likeness (NIL).

The organization ruled that Florida State assistant coach Alex Adams, the school’s offensive coordinator, violated recruiting rules stemming from a 2022 recruiting trip that involved a prominent NIL-related booster and one of the school’s NIL collectives, which were also punished.

The news was announced in an official, detailed report by the NCAA.

In doling out its punishment, the NCAA gave Florida State two years probation and announced a five-percent reduction in scholarships over the next two academic years. The school has also been docked seven official recruiting visits.

According to the NCAA, Atkins “facilitated an impermissible recruiting contact between a transfer prospect and a booster, according to an agreement released by the Division I Committee on Infractions.”

Atkins was found to have committed two Level II violations, which will result in a two-year show cause penalty levied against the coach by the NCAA.

A show-cause penalty against a coach means that any school who might wish to hire said coach would be required to explain its reasoning to NCAA officials.

Atkins also received a three-game suspension to begin the 2024 season.

From the NCAA’s official statement: “During the (2022) meeting, the booster encouraged the prospect to enroll at Florida State and offered him an NIL opportunity with the collective worth approximately $15,000 per month during his first year at the school.”

Atkins joined the staff at Florida State in 2020 after Mike Norvell accepted the school’s head coaching job. Norvell guided Memphis to a berth in the Cotton Bowl against Penn State in 2019. Atkins was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2022.

Clemson is scheduled to visit Florida State at Doak Campbell Stadium in 2024.

Florida State lands commitment from DJ Uiagalelei

The former Oregon State and Clemson quarterback will take over for former Seminoles quarterback Jordan Travis.

Quarterback DJ Uiagalelei is returning to the ACC.

The former Oregon State and Clemson quarterback committed to Florida State for the 2024 season on Monday. ESPN’s Pete Thamel first shared the news.

The top quarterback prospect from the Class of 2020, Uiagalelei started his career with the Tigers. He started in three different seasons for the Tigers, throwing 860 passes across the 2020-22 seasons. He threw for at least 2,200 yards in both of his seasons as the full-time starter, including 2,521 yards and 22 passing touchdowns in his final season, but he announced he would transfer after the Tigers started phasing in five-star prospect Cade Klubnik under center.

This past season at Oregon State, Uiagalelei threw just 315 passes, his fewest since his freshman season, but still racked up a career-high 2,638 yards. He threw for 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions, and his 8.4 yards per attempt ranked 27th in the FBS.

Uiagalelei will have big shoes to fill after former Seminoles quarterback Jordan Travis was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Year in his final collegiate season and helped lead Florida State to an undefeated record before a devastating ankle injury in November.

Florida State is scheduled to play Clemson at home in the 2024 season.

Georgia wins Orange Bowl in an absolute rout over Florida State

The Bulldogs missed out on the College Football Playoff and took out some frustration on the Seminoles in the 63-3 victory.

Georgia didn’t get a spot in the College Football Playoffs to defend their consecutive national championships, but the Bulldogs took out those frustrations on a depleted Florida State team in a 63-3 Orange Bowl victory on Saturday.

The Bulldogs slammed the gas pedal to the floor from the opening whistle. After a 15-yard touchdown run from running back Kendall Milton in the first quarter, Georgia found the end zone five times in the second quarter. Milton scored again in the opening seconds of the second quarter, and running back Daijun Edwards got in on the action with a 15-yard touchdown of his own. Georgia quarterback Carson Beck threw two touchdowns, too, and wide receiver Ladd McConkey even got in on a trick play, running 27 yards to the end zone after a backward pass.

Beck sat out for the entire second half, but the Georgia offense didn’t slow down. Edwards punched into the end zone for a second touchdown, and backup quarterback Gunnar Stockton tossed a pair of touchdowns himself to keep the blowout going.

After a few more quiet minutes, the final score was solidified. Georgia ended the game with 673 yards of offense to Florida State’s 209.

Here are the best photos from Georgia’s massive victory.

ACC commissioner and Board of Directors respond to Florida State lawsuit

ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips and the chair of the board of directors called Florida State’s suit “unprecedented and overreaching.”

After Florida State announced its intention to leave the ACC and challenge the conference’s withdrawal penalties in court, the ACC commissioner and board of directors responded on Friday.

The Florida State Board of Trustees unanimously agreed to seek legal action against the conference after it was revealed the current Grant of Rights would charge the Seminoles with a $572 million withdrawal penalty.

“Florida State’s decision to file action against the Conference is in direct conflict with their longstanding obligations and is a clear violation of their legal commitments to the other members of the Conference,” ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips and ACC Board of Directors chair Jim Ryan wrote in a joint statement.

“It is especially disappointing that FSU would choose to pursue this unprecedented and overreaching approach.”

The duo also reaffirmed their confidence that any legal look into the Grant of Rights would hold up in court and that the conference and its legal team would be able to enforce the agreement.

“Each university has benefited from this agreement, receiving millions of dollars in revenue and neither Florida State nor any other institution has ever challenged its legitimacy,” the statement read.

FSU would owe a hefty exit fee to bolt from the ACC

FSU set to challenge the ACC in the courtroom as they look for a new opportunity.

The Florida State University Board of Trustees were set to meet on Friday morning to discuss legal matters related to Department of Intercollegiate Athletics.

The Board of Trustees and the university leadership are looking to exit the ACC in search of a better opportunity.

“Today we’ve reached a crossroad in our relationship with the ACC, FSU Trustees chair Peter Collins said. “I believe this board has been left no choice but to challenge the legitimacy of the ACC grant of rights and it’s severe withdrawal penalties.”

The numbers provided during the Zoom meeting show that the exit fee along with fees associated with getting out of the grant of rights are indeed severe. A number that is north of half a billion dollars.

The number makes it virtually impossible to leave the conference but FSU plans on challenging the ACC’s penalties in the court room. The board unanimously approved the legal team to take action on behalf of the university.

Dellenger also reported that they would file a motion in the Tallahassee circuit court on Friday. Should FSU give notice to the ACC of their intention to leave the conference, they wouldn’t leave for a new home until July 1, 2025. Essentially they would remain with the ACC through the 2024 season.

If Florida State does go this route, it is only a matter of time before Clemson, Miami, and North Carolina among others join in on challenging the ACC. We could see another conference go down in the same light as the Pac-12, only this time it will come by challenging the ACC in court.

We will continue to provide updates on the situation.

FSU Board of Trustees likely to discuss bolting from the ACC on Friday

Well this makes things interesting.

It appears that the next domino in conference realignment is about to fall. The Florida State University Board of Trustees has called a virtual meeting for Friday at 10 a.m. ET.

The expectation is that the BOT will approve a legal filing in their bid to leave the ACC. It is public knowledge that leadership at the university has been very unhappy with the conference. Given how much revenue FSU generates, they believe they deserve a bigger piece of the pie. They aren’t the only ones as Clemson is another team unhappy with the ACC.

The exit from the ACC will be a costly one. In August, the Associated Press reported that the fee is roughly three times the annual revenue which equates to about $120 million. In the 2021-22 year, the conference paid out roughly $39 million per school.

Florida State President Rick McCullough called for action unless there is “radical change to revenue distribution.”

“We are not satisfied with our current situation,” the FSU president said. “We love the ACC and our partners at ESPN. Our goal would be to stay in the ACC, but staying in the ACC under the current situation is hard for us to figure out how to remain competitive unless there were a major change in the revenue distribution. That has not happened.”

When the Seminoles were left out of the College Football Playoff, this felt like the most likely solution in their minds. That was just another log thrown on the “let’s get out of the ACC” fire.

The ACC is set to welcome California, SMU, and Stanford to the conference in time for the 2024 season. Should FSU make a move from the ACC, we will likely see more action from Clemson, Miami, and North Carolina.

Top 2024 defensive lineman flips back to Miami after Florida State commitment

Armondo Blount, one of the top 50 prospects in the Class of 2024, recommitted to Miami on Wednesday after two months with the Seminoles.

The Miami Hurricanes managed to win back one of the best defensive linemen in the Class of 2024, according to a Wednesday report from On3’s Hayes Fawcett.

Miami native Armondo Blount, a 6-foot-4 and 250-pound defensive lineman, signed with the Hurricanes on Wednesday. He committed to Miami for the first time in September but flipped for the Florida State Seminoles on Oct. 22. Mario Cristobal’s staff managed to get him back at the buzzer, however, as Blount signed his letter of intent to play for Miami on Wednesday after an official visit the previous weekend.

Blount is the No. 22 player in the country according to 247Sports’ Composite Rankings, and the same rankings consider him the fourth-best defensive lineman in the Class of 2024. 247Sports director of scouting Andrew Ivins describes him as a “rosy defensive line prospect with a rare blend of twitch, power and bend.”

Blount joins five-star defensive lineman Justin Scott as the Hurricanes’ best 2024 signees, and the Hurricanes now sit No. 4 in the team recruiting rankings.

Top safety in the country flips from Florida State to Georgia

KJ Bolden becomes the third top-15 player in the country to join Georgia’s No. 1 2024 recruiting class after he announced the change.

Five-star safety KJ Bolden, one of the 20 best players in the Class of 2024 and the 247Sports’ top safety, announced on Wednesday that he’d flipped his commitment from Florida State to Georgia. On3’s Hayes Fawcett first reported the decision.

“I wanted to be developed and compete with the best of the best,” Bolden said in Fawcett’s report on the decision.

The Georgia native committed to Florida State in early August.

Bolden strengthens what is emphatically the No. 1 recruiting class in the country for 2024. Even despite losing top quarterback Dylan Raiola to Nebraska on Tuesday, the Bulldogs now have three of the top 15 players in the country and 11 of the top 100.

Cornerback Ellis Robinson IV and linebacker Justin Williams, who both signed their letter of intent already, are also both the highest-rated recruits at their respective positions.

With the loss of Bolden, Florida State now sinks farther from Georgia at the top of the rankings, but the Seminoles still have the No. 3 class in the country.

Get more Georgia coverage at UGA Wire.

 

Florida State athletic director releases statement on Seminoles not making CFP

The undefeated Seminoles were left on the outside looking in despite being undefeated and winning the ACC title.

Florida State, despite being undefeated and winning the ACC title, was left on the outside looking in for the College Football Playoff. SEC Champion Alabama jumped ahead of them for the fourth seed with their victory over Georgia.

Seminoles’ athletic director Michael Alford released a statement on the decision, calling the choice destructive with permanent consequences for the sport of college football.

“The argument of whether a team is the ‘most deserving OR best’ is a false equivalence,” Alford wrote. “It made the season up to yesterday irrelevant and significantly damages the legitimacy of the College Football Playoff.”

Alford pointed out how the Seminoles are the first undefeated Power 5 conference champion to ever not make the semifinals. He called the decision unforgivable.

“The fact that this team has continued to close out victories in dominant fashion facing our current quarterback situation should have ENHANCED our case to get a playoff berth EARNED on the field.”

“Wins matter. Losses matter,” Alford wrote. “Today, they changed the way success is assessed in college football, from a tangible metric – winning on the field – to an intangible, subjective one. Evidently, predicting the future matters more.”

Alford ended his statement by saying “the committee failed college football today.”

Florida State head coach Mike Norvell released a statement about the choice as well.

“I am disgusted and infuriated with the committee’s decision today,” he wrote. “What is the point of playing the games? Do you tell players it is okay to quit if someone goes down? Do you not play a senior on Senior Day for fear of injury? Where is the motivation to schedule challenging non-conference games?”