Florida CFO threatens to sue NCAA over FSU football player’s eligibility

Jimmy Patronis wants to know why the NCAA has denied the eligibility of transfer Darrell Jackson.

One of Florida’s top elected officials is pressing the NCAA and threatening litigation over the eligibility of Florida State transfer Darrell Jackson.

Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis sent a letter to NCAA president Charlie Baker on Tuesday requesting details about waivers for Jackson and another transfer, North Carolina receiver Tez Walker.

Both transferred twice, and both were initially ruled ineligible because of it. But the NCAA reversed its ruling on Walker earlier this month, citing “new information” it received. Jackson remains sidelined for the No. 4 Seminoles, which Patronis — an FSU alumnus — called a “double standard.”

“They’re really destroying this young man,” Patronis said Wednesday in an interview, “and I don’t even know if they really think about it in that way.”

Patronis is trying to do something about it. His letter to the NCAA served as a public request for documents related to both cases. Because the cases have not played out in a courtroom, he can’t see how the facts or arguments around Walker’s case differ from those with Jackson.

Patronis wrote that any documents the NCAA provides “will assist the state with the discovery phase in any necessary legal proceedings.”

“Going through the litigation route would be painful,” Patronis told the Tampa Bay Times. “It would have some expense to it. And if that’s what the NCAA wants to do, then by gosh, we’re going to do it.”

Jackson initially signed with Maryland as a three-star defensive lineman in the 2021 class. He recorded 22 tackles in 13 games (one start) with the Terrapins before transferring to Miami, where he started every game last year.