Dan Mullen, Scott Stricklin release statements after NCAA announces penalties for Florida football program
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The NCAA just hit Florida with probation and recruiting restrictions after Dan Mullen’s program had impermissible in-person contact on the recruiting trail. According to NCAA rules, this is defined as a Level II violation (the most severe violation is a Level I violation).
Following this investigation, the NCAA has ruled Mullen did not promote an atmosphere of compliance in light of his personal involvement in one of the violations.
The Gators received some relatively minor punishments as a result, however, the program has been put on probation and Mullen has received a one-year show-cause order. What that means is Mullen 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.
Immediately after this news, Florida issued the following statements:
Dan Mullen:
“As Head Football Coach of the Florida Gators, promoting an atmosphere of compliance within our program is important to me. Following the rules and being committed to doing things the right way is part of my history as a coach, at all levels, and I regret we didn’t do things the right way in this situation. Even though this is an isolated matter, I’m still disappointed in the violations outlined in the report. We’re going to learn from our mistakes and I’m confident this won’t happen again. Most importantly, we’ll keep working for the benefit of our student athletes to make our program one our fans and University can be proud of.”
Athletics Director Scott Stricklin:
“There is no evidence of systemic compliance issues at Florida, but when isolated circumstances occur they are addressed head on and we accept responsibility for our actions, as evidenced by this instance.
“NCAA rules are in place to create fairness and integrity, and the University of Florida has an established history of adhering to those rules. It is important for our coaches and staff to remain diligent and take responsibility for compliance, and extricate themselves from potential NCAA violations.”
University of Florida President Dr. Kent Fuchs:
“The University of Florida places a high value on integrity and we are committed to compliance. I’m confident that we have the right processes and people in place to deliver the highest standard of honesty and compliance.”
Here is the full list of penalties the Gators have been handed down by the NCAA:
- 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.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
