Former Ragin’ Cajun Coach Named in NIL Lawsuit

College football fans around Louisiana have come to be on amenable terms with the sport's latest financial agreement. Whether you play at LSU in Baton Rouge, the University of Louisiana in Lafayette, Louisiana Tech in Ruston, McNeese State in Lake Charles, or any of our state's other collegiate sports programs you're familiar with the term "Name, Image, Likeness".

The program provides a way for a college athlete to earn money off his or her notoriety in their chosen sport. And while a lot of NIL talk centers around college football, you can apparently make some pretty good "NIL Money" in gymnastics, just ask Livvy Dunne at LSU.

Yeah, there are literally millions of dollars if not hundreds of millions of dollars available to athletes of a certain caliber if they are willing to provide their prowess in a sport for a particular college or university. And with that much money floating around you knew it wouldn't be too long before the lawyers started slipping their fingers into the big money pie.

Former Ragin Cajun Football Coach Named in NIL Lawsuit

Billy Napier left the University of Louisiana to become the head coach at the University of Florida. Florida is a big-time program in the Southeastern Conference and has just a bit more financial liquidity than UL. Most people in college sports saw Napier's departure to Florida as a good thing for the coach and a good thing for UL. It showed the country's top young coaches that they could win in Lafayette and grow their future too.

Since Napier's departure both he and his Florida Gators as well as the UL Football program have not been as successful as they once were. UL continues to strive and make improvements while the fans in Florida are not nearly as patient.

And now a former top prospect of the Florida Gators, Jaden Rashada, has filed a lawsuit against Coach Napier, a Florida booster, and a former football staffer. The suit alleges that Napier backed on a promise of $1 million dollars in payments if Rashada signed his national letter of intent with the Gators.

As you have guessed, that payment did not materialize. Rashada did not play for the Gators, he instead transferred to Arizona State and has subsequently transferred again to the University of Georgia. Meanwhile, he, Rashada, is believed to be the first college football player to sue a school and its principles over an NIL deal.

The lawsuit filed by Rashada claims he was exploited by false promises made during the recruiting process. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Florida in Pensacola.