The Jaden Rashada saga is all over the place

UPDATE 2:

247 Sports’ Blake Alderman is now also reporting that Jaden’s father told him Rashada didn’t make the decision to request his release.

For now, Gator fans can breathe a sigh of relief. It looks like Rashada might still be a Gator.

UPDATE 1:

It is now being reported that Jaden Rashada has yet to officially request his release. 247 Sports reports that Rashada’s father denies Jaden asked for the release, and Jaden himself sent a message to Hayes Fawcett, one of the first to report his request, saying it was not true.

So right now it looks like the Gators dodged a bullet. However, this type of fake news may not disappear by itself.

We will continue to update here as news comes out.

First news:

Florida football took a big hit today and it really didn’t roll.

5-star QB signee Jaden Rashada requested his release from his national letter of intent this afternoon.

Rashada led the Gators’ 2022 class, ranking as the sixth-best QB in the class. Unfortunately for UF, the curse of California recruiting struck again.

This is similar to the Chris Steele saga a few years back. Steele, also from California, signed as a Gator but never played a single game before a dramatic exit via the transfer portal.

So how did this happen?

It has been reported that a “bunch of NIL errors” caused Rashada to lose confidence in the Gators. Without saying all the words I want to say, it can’t happen.

The University of Florida is supposed to be the state’s flagship university and one of the biggest brands in college football. And yet, Gainesville administrators don’t seem to care that the Gators have passed every other major program they compete with.

UF has been behind its rivals in NIL play for some time. With Rashada’s commitment, it felt like Florida might finally catch up and level the playing field.

But no. Scott Stricklin’s unwillingness or inability to commit to creating a strong NIL foundation around the football program reared its ugly head once again.

This mess with Rashada is going to be hard for Florida to shake. How are top employees supposed to commit to NIL contracts they don’t even know exist? What’s Napier’s recruiting pitch now that the guy says, “[Enter school name here] offering me serious money, what can you offer?”

The consequences of this are not pretty. This may be the last straw that requires changes in administration.

Florida needs to step up if they want to be nationally relevant again.

Stay up to date on Florida football at Hail Florida Hail.