Report: FSU petitioning NCAA to rescind penalties for NIL-related violations

Florida State is petitioning the NCAA to rescind penalties that were imposed for NIL-recruiting violations after a court ruled the association can't enforce its own rules, the school said in a letter obtained by Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger.

The three-page letter was sent to the chair and managing directors of the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions. Included in the letter is a subsection of penalties imposed on FSU, including a fine, scholarship reductions, recruiting restrictions, and a disassociation with a booster.

The NCAA penalized FSU regarding a rule-breaking incident in 2022 when a booster and NIL representative made an offer to a prospect. The school began negotiations on a resolution with the infractions committee in January. The penalties were the most significant to be handed down by the association since it permitted athletes to be compensated for NIL.

Florida State is seeking an amended agreement after a U.S. District Court in Tennessee restrained the NCAA from enforcing its interim NIL policy that prohibits athletes from negotiating NIL with third parties. The organization announced that it was pausing current enforcement investigations into NIL-related activities, which FSU believes includes cases like its own.

Florida State agreed to a three-game suspension of OL coach and offensive coordinator Alex Atkins, who drove the recruit to the meeting with the booster. A two-year probation and reduction of scholarships are among other penalties levied against the program.

The Seminoles are still agreeing to serve out the negotiated probation and will not push back against Atkins' suspension, but the school is no longer content to pay a fine or face a reduction in scholarships among other recruiting sanctions over the next two academic years.

FSU also argues that the disassociation and booster penalties are "squarely tied" to the court's preliminary injunction and "therefore cannot be enforced by FSU or the NCAA at this time," per Dellenger.