The NCAA has decided not to penalize the Florida Gators after a former football assistant coach visited a recruit off campus before rules allowed for contact and, according to its findings, "exceeded the boundaries of permissible recruiting."
Though the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions panel did not identify Joker Phillips as the assistant coach in its report, the details of the incident point directly to an incident involving him and a recruit that led to his suspension prior to last season and ended the recruitment of the prospect in question.
Phillips resigned in June after having impermissible contact in January 2014 -- during the dead period -- with a high school recruit during his junior year. Phillips was hired by the Cleveland Browns last month to coach wide receivers.
Because of Florida's self-imposed sanctions, the NCAA decided to levy no additional punishment.
"The University of Florida Athletic Association takes pride in the culture of compliance it has built over the years," Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley said in a statement. "Integrity is one of the core values of our organization -- we act in a fair, ethical and honest manner and we strive to do things the right way every day.
"That is why we took quick and decisive action after we learned of a recruiting contact rule violation involving one of our assistant football coaches in January 2014. We stopped recruiting the involved student-athlete, we removed the assistant coach from all recruiting activities, and later secured his resignation."
Florida, Phillips and the NCAA agreed on the facts and that the violation occurred.
Before Phillips talked with the prospect, he was notified by a recruiting service reporter that the prospect would be waiting outside of his high school when they arrived. Once Phillips was at the high school, he spoke with the prospect, let him know the school wanted the prospect to be a part of its football program and got the prospect's social media contact information.
The panel determined the former coach's contact with the prospect was a Level II violation because it was not inadvertent and provided more than a minimal recruiting advantage. Specifically, the former coach was able to get the prospect's contact information at a time when coaches who were following the rules were unable to have the same level of contact.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.