Report: Florida parts ways with key NIL staffer Marcus Castro-Walker amid NCAA investigation

Florida has parted ways with a key NIL staffer as an NCAA investigation into the program’s recruitment of quarterback Jaden Rashada continues.

According to a report from GatorsOnline, Florida has parted ways with Marcus Castro-Walker, who had served as the team’s director of player engagement and NIL since joining Billy Napier’s staff in late 2021.

Castro-Walker had been tasked with working with key NIL groups, as well as educating players on all the ins and outs of NIL. Coach Billy Napier had explained his role shortly after the hire.

“Budgeting, taxes, networking with alumni, learning how to do a job, because there is work that comes with the compensation, so being on time, being engaged, understanding how to represent yourself, represent the company and the university,” Napier said. “A lot of positives here and our intentions with GatorMade is to equip the players and educate the players.

“It will be a year-round curriculum, it’s leadership development, it’s character education, it’s macro-internships, it’s business weekend leadership conferences, it’s study abroad, it’s financial literacy — five courses a year — it’s agent education. It’s a long list of things that fall under that umbrella, but I think it’s part of our responsibility as college football programs to use the game of football to make an impact on who they are.”

Florida is one of a handful of programs that has fallen under NCAA scrutiny in recent weeks over its NIL efforts.

Florida State has already been disciplined by the NCAA for infractions related to NIL, while Tennessee is now also under investigation like Florida.

For the Gators, the scrutiny centers around the recruitment of Rashada.

Rashada was famously offered a $13 million deal by the Gator Collective, Florida’s chief NIL group at the time, though the money promised never materialized. Rashada would eventually ask out of his NLI with Florida, heading to Arizona State instead.

Florida was left with the overhang of an NCAA investigation.

But it’s unclear if the NCAA will be able to find any sort of smoking gun in the case.

“The one thing I couldn’t get any definitive proof on was who at Florida knew, when they knew, what they knew,” said On3’s Andy Staples, who covered the Rashada case while with The Athletic. “That, I imagine, is what the NCAA people are trying to figure out right now.”

While the investigation goes on, Florida will move on with new leadership where Marcus Castro-Walker once served.