Georgia quarterback Jaden Rashada has filed a lawsuit against Florida head coach Billy Napier. Here’s why it won’t be a distraction for Georgia this season.
The Georgia Bulldogs will more than likely enter the 2024 season as the No. 1 ranked football program. They are coming off a (13-1) season in which their one loss game by way of a three-point defeat at the hands of Alabama in the SEC Championship game.
This offseason, they made several key roster additions via the NCAA Transfer portal. Since the loss to Alabama, Georgia has added (10) transfers to the roster. One of the most notable additions came via the commitment from former Arizona State QB Jaden Rashada.
Rashada is in the headlines as of late following the news that he’s filed a lawsuit against Florida head coach Billy Napier, Gators super-booster Hugh Hatchcock, and former Director of NIL Marcus Castro-Walker. It’s a 37-page complaint filed that claims Rashada was repeatedly lied to in order to flip his commitment from Miami to Florida.
This lawsuit has led some to wonder if this might be a cause of distraction for Georgia this season, something that might be a bit overblown. First and foremost, head coach Kirby Smart is the embodiment of a football coach who goes out of his way to avoid distractions, and sources have indicated this lawsuit was something that he knew about during the recruitment of Rashada and signed off on. It’s not something he felt the need to avoid.
Additionally, apart from the initial storyline hitting the newsfeed, this is a topic that likely won’t be discussed much further considering the subject matter. It’s a lawsuit that doesn’t directly involve any of the universities involved in the recruitment of Rashada, in other words it’s a personal matter. Not to mention, at best Jaden Rashada is the backup at Georgia this fall, more than likely he’s set to be the No. 3 quarterback to start the season. He’s not going to be frontward facing in the media. This isn’t anything like the level of distraction national title contenders have had in the past with quarterbacks. Like Cam Newton being investigated by the NCAA in the midst of a national title run and undefeated season with the Auburn Tigers. Even more recently, the bombshell story of cheating allegations Michigan overcame a year ago. This is a backup that’s seeking retributions from a conference foe whom he claims conspired to defraud him out of a $9.5m NIL Deal. This is foreign ground, but it’s far from hostile.