Jaden Rashada is smiling again: Inside the QBs next chapter at Arizona State after NIL mess

May 2024 · 8 minute read

Editor’s note: Jaden Rashada was named Arizona State’s starting quarterback on Aug. 22, a program source told The Athletic. Read more here.

TEMPE, Ariz. — Jaden Rashada stands alongside Arizona State’s other quarterbacks a dozen yards behind the line of scrimmage, in a line parallel to the offensive line preparing to block.

Advertisement

As Notre Dame transfer QB Drew Pyne relays a call and springs the offense into motion, Rashada and his fellow quarterbacks take mental reps and pantomime Pyne’s reads mid-play, their helmets turning in unison as they read the secondary to locate an open receiver.

Other than his height, 6-foot-4, he doesn’t stand out among them during a recent spring practice. He’s just another incoming freshman still learning the finer points of the next phase in his career.

But in the final months of his rocky, unprecedented recruitment, he was made into something more.

Now, he can just play football.

“He’s truly at peace. He’s smiling again. I didn’t see him smile for six months on FaceTime. He’s smiling and happy again,” Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said. “I don’t care how much money you have. You can’t buy that.”

Ready to write his own legacy 🔱@jadenrashada is officially a Sun Devil! 😈#ActivateTheValley /// #O2V pic.twitter.com/nj1Gs6qXcW

— Sun Devil Football (@ASUFootball) February 2, 2023

Rashada, to be precise, had $13.85 million coming his way from a Florida collective in exchange for autographs, fan engagement events, social posts and his residence in Gainesville.

Until he didn’t.

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

From $13.8M in NIL money to none: A 4-star QB's unprecedented recruitment

One of the wildest recruiting sagas in college football history featured its most public, embarrassing chapter after the Gator Collective terminated the deal on Dec. 7, 2022, two days after Rashada’s initial payment of $500,000 was due and had yet to arrive.

“Rashada is probably a poster child for kids that were promised a lot and people didn’t deliver and now they’re stuck,” defensive coordinator Brian Ward said. “How do you separate the deals that are real and the ones that aren’t?”

The rumor mill churned over the next six weeks, and on Jan. 17, Rashada was officially granted a release from his letter of intent at Florida.

Advertisement

In the office that day, the Sun Devils coaches sat in a meeting room.

“The moment he got his release, Kenny was like, ‘We’re gonna get that kid,’” ASU passing game coordinator and receivers coach Ra’Shaad Samples said.

Rashada hasn’t spoken about his experience since being granted his release from Florida and declined an interview request from The Athletic.

The Pittsburg, Calif., native was a top 50 national recruit per the 247Sports Composite and Dillingham had built a relationship with Rashada while he was recruiting him to Oregon, where Rashada took unofficial visits.

Now, Dillingham had become the head coach at his alma mater and returned to his hometown. Immediately, he reached out to resume the relationship. Dillingham knew Rashada well and didn’t need to sift through what or who others said Rashada was or had become through his recruitment, which included an initial pledge to Miami.

Dillingham wanted him. Badly. But so did a lot of other places. Rashada visited Arizona State and TCU after re-opening his recruitment and mulled his future.

“He couldn’t just enjoy the organic-ness of being an 18-year-old kid who wants to play football at the next level,” Samples said. “He became this name, this image, this number that represented everything he didn’t represent.”

Dillingham, the youngest FBS head coach at 32, has a personal philosophy against making playing time promises to recruits. If they do start, he feels he can’t push them as hard as he wants. If they don’t start, he’s already broken their trust.

And Arizona State couldn’t offer any money from a collective, Dillingham said, like what had been available from name, image and likeness arms at Miami, Florida and Oregon.

Dillingham knew what he could offer, though. And he remembered being affected by seeing Rashada’s demeanor and face change late in his recruitment.

Advertisement

“You’ll enjoy life,” Dillingham said. “You’re coming to a guy that cares about you, you’re coming to a system that’s going to help you be successful, and you know you want to be here. And you’ll wake up every day with a smile on your face. Other schools can give you other things, we can give you happiness.

“What do you want?”

During Rashada’s rushed second act in recruiting, Dillingham leaned on the trust they had built over the past year. Rashada’s father, Harlen Rashada, had also played for Arizona State.

Jaden hadn’t visited Tempe since the summer of 2021 before re-opening his recruitment, and Dillingham’s pitch worked.

On Feb. 1, Rashada announced he was coming to Arizona State.

Forks Up 4L! 🔱🆙! #Home @KennyDillingham pic.twitter.com/lld1QZc3tJ

— Jaden Rashada 5️⃣ (@jadenrashada) February 1, 2023

He didn’t have a cent of NIL money waiting for him. What was? A heated competition at quarterback with a roster of more experienced players.

“He got trapped in an adult world as a 17-, 18-year-old kid. His face got publicized. He got slandered. People on Twitter, social media, all the words you can call him he got called. And it’s sad because he’s a great kid,” Dillingham said. “He’s just happy to be an 18-year-old again.”

Added Samples: “Once he got here, he got to be what he wants to represent. I think it’s been joyful for him.”

His recruitment is over.

Life appears a lot more normal, even if his bank account is still pretty normal for a college athlete, too.

“If you put a lot of us in that situation at any age, let alone at 18, 19. Even a grown man 10, 20 years older, that can be emotionally tough. You’re going through a lot and you feel a weight,” said offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin, who will call plays under Dillingham. “The way he’s handled it, that’s one of the reasons I love him. Because I’m impressed by that too. I don’t think he could have handled it any better to this point since I’ve gotten to know him.”

Advertisement

He’s in a new place. He’s enrolled in classes. He’s in the weight room with teammates. He’s in meeting rooms studying and on the practice field learning.

He’s playing football, embraced in a world he understands and doing what he loves.

“I love who he is, I love his attitude towards wanting to get better. He doesn’t want to just rely on his natural talent, he truly wants to develop the other parts of his game,” Baldwin said. “It’s gonna take time. And he knows it. But he’s excited about that process. And that’s what I love the most about him is that he’s excited about going through the process. And you can just see that in his face.”

The arm talent that made him such a coveted prospect has already impressed coaches. Samples said he’s a “sponge” trying to learn as much as he can so he can maximize his physical talents.

“He’s got a really good skill set, but on top of that, he has the ability to develop the mental, cerebral side. He gets it and wants to get it,” Baldwin said. “You see the great skill set, and you know he’ll get over the hump in other areas that will take it to another level. But you have to be patient.”

For now, he’s still in the infant stages of a difficult battle for early playing time. The spring game is on April 15.

It’s been a rocky year. But the last 12 months rarely come up in ASU’s facility. Rashada and Dillingham haven’t talked about it much. Baldwin and Samples haven’t heard teammates ask about it. Rashada and his teammates and coaches are focused on what’s ahead, rather than the nightmare from which Rashada just emerged.

“I’m a huge supporter of anything that helps players. But let’s also remember through all that, let’s keep 18-year-olds 18. Let’s find that balance, just because they’re making money, just because there’s the glamour, let’s not forget that they’re still 18,” Dillingham said. “And I know it’s hard for people to do. ‘Well, if he’s making all this money, we’ve got to treat him like this.’ The expectations and all that, there still has to be a balance of who these kids are. Let’s let them make money, let them do that, but still have a balance of who this kid really is.”

Advertisement

That makes moving forward a lot simpler. Even without the life-changing money from Florida that never found its way to Rashada.

He’s at a new place without the money, but he’s now experiencing what it’s like not being required to carry around all that comes with the money, too.

“It’s awesome,” Dillingham said, ” to see a kid come back out again.”

(Photo: Stephen M. Dowell / Orlando Sentinel / Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57k2xscWpoanxzfJFsZmlrX2eGcLbAnZynZaKWwKmtw5pkp6GcYq6ztdmopZplo6mutbGO