Florida State Calls On NCAA To Revoke NIL Penalties Amidst Pause From Tennessee Court

The university will comply with the three-game ban of offensive coordinator Alex Atkins but wants other penalties rescinded.

Mar 9, 2024; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles head football coach Mike Norvell / Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports

Florida State University has called on the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in a letter to revoke some of the penalties it received for NIL/recruiting violations earlier this year. The public institution cites the U.S. District Court case in Tennessee that “restrained the NCAA from enforcing its interim NIL policy prohibiting athletes from negotiating NIL compensation with third-party entities,” according to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports.

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Furthermore, FSU also mentioned that it is “disadvantaged” to the schools such as the University of Florida as they have been receiving the benefit of the ruling in the Tennessee case which has paused NIL investigations.

“FSU should not be the only institution penalized simply because it was first in the queue, the violations for which it is responsible were more limited, and it cooperated fully to resolve the case,” Florida State said in the letter.

The school was hit with a two-year probation, a two-year show cause order for offensive coordinator Alex Atkins, a one-year disassociation with NIL-collective Rising Spear, a reduction of five scholarships over two years, and a $5,000 fine plus 1% of the athletic department budget.

Florida State argues that it should not have to serve the fine penalty, the scholarship reduction, and other penalties but agrees to serve the probation and will suspend coach Atkins for the first three games.

Should the NCAA rescind any of its initial enforcements, it could appear that the organization is quickly losing its grip on the oversight of collegiate sports.

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