FSU football: Reaction to Alex Atkins suspension for NIL related penalties

FSU football can't catch a break. FSU football head coach Mike Norvell has his name swirling among the candidates for the Alabama job amid Nick Saban's retirement, and now FSU will face penalties for recruiting violations. The just of the deal is Alex Atkins drove a recruit and his parents to meet with a booster but didn't stay for the meeting. The recruit was not committed, which made the meeting impermissible. Alex Atkins didn't provide all of the information during the investigation, which made it a Level II violation.

From ON3:

"Atkins committed two Level II violations, and will serve a three-game suspension to start the 2024 season. In addition, he received a two-year show cause from the NCAA as part of the sanctions, which were negotiated between the school and the NCAA. Other penalties against Florida State include two years of probation, a three-year disassociation from the booster and a one-year disassociation from the NIL collective. Atkins also cannot recruit off-campus during Fall 2023."

FSU football can't catch a break. FSU football head coach Mike Norvell has his name swirling among the candidates for the Alabama job amid Nick Saban's retirement, and now FSU will face penalties for recruiting violations. 

The gist of the deal is Alex Atkins drove a recruit and his parents to meet with a booster but didn't stay for the meeting. The recruit was not committed, which made the meeting impermissible. Alex Atkins didn't provide all of the information during the investigation, which made it a Level II violation. Some highlights:

Impact

Mike Norvell usually handles the play-calling during games, so the three-game suspension won't hinder that aspect, and FSU tight end coach Chris Thomsen is a former offensive line coach familiar with Mike Norvell's offense. There are ways to work around the disassociation of the booster and the football team doesn't really work with Rising Spear like that with the emergence of The Battle's End Collective. The latter was not around when this took place in the summer of 2022. The other things could affect things to a degree, but is the NCAA really gonna have the teeth to enforce these? It's amazing of all things the NCAA tries to enforce this type of stuff and Michigan was out here cheating cheating and the only thing that happened was their coach got suspended while they played a scheudule of scrubs.