According to an NCAA infractions report that was released on Tuesday, Florida football has been sanctioned for recruiting violations on two occasions and head coach Dan Mullen ‘failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance’ with the NCAA.
The incidents occurred between January and March of 2019.
“The university, the head football coach, an assistant coach and NCAA enforcement staff agreed that the assistant coach and head coach had impermissible in-person contact with a prospect when they met with a prospect’s high school coach while the prospect was in the room. At that meeting, the Florida coaches expressed an interest in recruiting the prospect. Leading up to that visit, the head coach sent the prospect texts about his upcoming visit to the high school and his interest in recruiting the prospect. NCAA rules were violated because off-campus recruiting contacts are not allowed until after a football prospect’s junior year of high school. The violations were Level II.”
Level II violations are a ‘severe breach of conduct’, according to the NCAA violation structure.
According to the report, an unnamed assistant coach also had impermissible contact with approximately 127 prospects when seven teams toured the program’s facilities on their way to a tournament in Tampa.
Those violations are cited Level III, which is labeled by the NCAA as a ‘breach of conduct’ that results in minimal recruiting or competitive advantage.
The penalties for both occurrences include:
- One year of probation.
- A $5,000 fine.
- Reduced fall 2019 evaluations from 42 to 21.
- Reduced football evaluation days by 12 for the 2018-19 academic year.
- Restrictions on all recruiting telephone calls with football prospects from April 15 through May 31, 2019.
- A reduction in the number of football official visits during the 2019-20 academic year by one and in the number of unofficial visits during the 2019-20 academic year by 14.
- A one-year show-cause order for the head football coach. During that period, the head coach is prohibited from all off-campus recruiting activity during the fall 2020 evaluation period and a four-day off-campus recruiting ban during the fall 2021 contact period.
- The university banned the head coach from recruiting for the first 10 days of the January 2020 contact period.
- A 30-day off-campus recruiting ban for the head coach during the fall 2019 evaluation period.
- The university ended the recruitment of the prospect.
- The university will not recruit any prospects from the high school in Seattle from the 2019-20 through 2020-21 academic years.
- A seven-day off-campus recruiting ban for the entire football coaching staff during the spring 2021 off-campus recruiting period.
- A 30-day off-campus recruiting ban for the assistant coach in October 2019 and a three-day off-campus recruiting ban for the January 2020 contact period.
- One-on-one rules education for both the head coach and assistant coach regarding NCAA contact and evaluation rules.