The NIL chaos is building up in the football sport, and this time it's a Florida High School football coach who found himself in hot water. He is now under investigation for acting as an unlicensed NIL agent/negotiator and taking a huge sum.

According to On3's reports, Palm Beach County School District’s Office of Inspector General found that a Florida high school football player paid Santaluces Community High School head football coach Hector Clavijo III $7,000.

Going by the findings, the high school head coach accepted the $7000 figure in two installments. The player paid him $5000 via bank transfer, while the rest $2000 he received via Zelle.

The Florida High School Athletic Association places the NIL Prohibition under Bylaw 9.9. Under that law, no school employee, athletic staff member, or representative of a school’s athletic interests (boosters) may engage in NIL representation. This makes the head coach, Clavijo III, directly violate Bylaw 9.9.

What makes it even more difficult for the high school head coach? Clavijo III also holds the role of Director of NIL at Agency 1 Sports. Some profiles also mentioned him as a coaches’ agent.

The Palm Beach County School District opened ‌an investigation into the high school football coach over these alleged violations back in July 2025. However, throughout this time, the high school player's name remained anonymous.

"Messed up by, I don’t know, being too nice," said Clavijo during an interview with the district.

It will indeed be a tough decision. After all, the high school head coach has enjoyed some success when it comes to coaching Florida High School Football. Under him, the Champagnat Catholic (Fla.) went to FHSAA state championships thrice: 2017, 2019, and 2020.

Clavijo has been with Santaluces High School since 2021 and has an overall record of 30-14 over four seasons. 

High school program's initiative on NIL play

It is quite evident that NIL has changed the way college football works. No longer are the players just student-athletes who are on scholarships. High schools tried their best to help athletes earn money following NIL guidelines.

There was a bill called the “Mississippi High School Student-Athlete NIL Protection Act.” But it was not approved by the state house committee.

Earlier, the Ohio High School Athletic Association had voted to allow high school students to earn money from their NIL. But House Bill 661 reversed that decision, limiting the ability of high school athletes to be financially stable.

This gives rise to them relying on street agents. They are not officially certified agents or qualified lawyers. In that way, they are not regulated or trustworthy.

"I think it’s almost a crisis, to be honest,” said Joe Martin, executive director of the Texas High School Coaches Association. “We’ve got situations here where we have the street agents moving kids from place to place and representing them, that are charging them a lot more money than they should be charging them.” 

This is a growing problem among high school athletes.

Do share your thoughts on Hector Clavijo III's investigation and the impact of NIL in high school football.

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Written by

Samvruth Raj

Edited by

Soheli Tarafdar