INDIANAPOLIS – The Florida football program violated NCAA recruiting contact rules on two occasions, and the head coach did not promote an atmosphere of compliance, according to an agreement released by the Division I Committee on Infractions.

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.

According to the agreement, members of the coaching staff also had impermissible contact with approximately 127 prospects when seven nonscholastic football teams visited the campus and toured the football facilities on their way to a tournament in Tampa. The assistant coach had incidental impermissible contacts with several prospects. The violations were Level III.

The head coach agreed that he did not promote an atmosphere of compliance in light of his personal involvement in one of the violations.

This case was processed through the negotiated resolution process. The process was used instead of a formal hearing or summary disposition because the university, the involved coaches and the enforcement staff agreed on the violations and the penalties. The Division I Committee on Infractions reviewed the case to determine whether the resolution was in the best interests of the Association and whether the agreed-upon penalties were reasonable. Negotiated resolutions may not be appealed and do not set case precedent for other infractions cases.

The university and the enforcement staff used ranges identified by the Division I membership-approved infractions penalty guidelines to agree upon Level II-mitigated penalties for the university. The enforcement staff also used the guidelines to identify agreed-upon Level II-standard penalties for the head coach and Level II-mitigated penalties for the assistant coach. The report contains the full list of penalties as approved by the Committee on Infractions, including:

• 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.

If an opportunity to serve a penalty will not be available due to circumstances related to COVID-19, the penalty must be served at the next available opportunity. 

Members of the Committee on Infractions are drawn from the NCAA membership and members of the public. The members of the panel who reviewed this case are Carol Cartwright, chief hearing officer for the panel and president emeritus at Kent State and Bowling Green; Sankar Suryanarayan, university counsel at Princeton; and Sarah Wake, associate general counsel at Northwestern.

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FORT WORTH, Texas – Alabama’s Mac Jones, Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Florida’s Kyle Trask have been selected as the three finalists for the 2020 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award. The honorees were named based on the results from the Davey O’Brien National Selection Committee’s balloting as well as social media fan votes courtesy of the Davey O’Brien Fan Vote. All three players are first-time finalists for the award. Jones is seeking to become the Crimson Tide’s first-ever winner, while Lawrence would join fellow Tiger Deshaun Watson (2015, 2016) and Trask would be the third Gator, following Danny Wuerffel (1995, 1996) and Tim Tebow (2007).

Jones, a junior, has connected on 250 of 327 passes (.765) for 3,739 yards and 32 touchdowns against four interceptions. He leads the nation in passing efficiency (202.4), total quarterback rating (95.6) and completion percentage. The native of Jacksonville, Fla., also ranks second nationally in both passing yards and passing touchdowns. The 6-3, 214-pound Jones also is among the national leaders in points responsible for (5th, 198) and total offense (6th, 339.1). He has topped the 300-yard passing mark seven times, including four 400-yard games. He has guided the Crimson Tide to an 11-0 record and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff Rankings.

Lawrence is 198-for-286 passing (.692) for 2,753 yards and 22 touchdowns, while also rushing for 211 yards and seven scores. He ranks seventh in FBS in total offense (329.3) and eighth in total QBR (85.6). The product of Cartersville, Ga., also is listed nationally in passing yards (10th), passing efficiency (11th, 172.7), touchdown passes (12th) and points responsible for (12th, 174). In nine games, the 6-6, 220-pound junior passed for more than 300 yards five times with a pair of 400-yard games. Clemson (10-1) is 9-0 in contests started by Lawrence and is the second seed in the College Football Playoffs.

Trask, a senior from Manvel, Texas, has completed 285 of 409 passes (.697) for 4,125 yards and 43 touchdowns, leading the country in both yards and passing scores. In addition, he ranks first in points responsible for (278) and is second in total QBR (90.4). In 11 games, the 6-5, 240-pound signal caller has nine 300-yard passing efforts, topping the 400-yard plateau five times, and had seven tilts with at least four touchdown passes. His 379.5 total yards of offense per game ranks third nationally. Trask has steered Florida to an 8-3 overall record and the No. 7 ranking in the College Football Playoff Rankings.

The Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award, first issued in 1981, is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious quarterback award. The Foundation’s national selection committee is comprised of journalists, broadcasters, commentators and former winners. The Davey O’Brien Fan Vote instituted a change to its format in 2020, as fans voted for their favorite quarterback’s post from the Davey O’Brien official accounts via three social media platforms—Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. The top five vote getters on those platforms each received bonus committee member votes.

The bonus vote recipients and there vote totals, were Notre Dame’s Ian Book (6.5), Trask (5.5), Coast Carolina’s Grayson McCall (3), Jones (2.5), Ole Miss’ Matt Corral (1.5), Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder (1.5), Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler (1) and UCF’s Dillon Gabriel (1). The next step in the process will be to select the award’s winner from the three finalist quarterbacks. Final round fan voting is now open and will close on Wednesday, Dec. 30. National selection committee voting will take place through Dec. 30. The winner is to be announced live on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021, on the 30th annual The Home Depot College Football Awards, which will be held virtually from 7-8:30 p.m. (ET) on ESPN.

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