Hector Clavijo III, head football coach at Santaluces (Fla.) Community High School, has been reprimanded by the Palm Beach County School District Office for his failure to comply with district directives and exploitation of his relationship with a student-athlete.
According to Palm Beach Post, a Santaluces student-athlete paid Clavijo at least $5,000 to act as his agent in name, image and likeness contract negotiations. Clavijo is not a licensed NIL agent, and to act as one is a violation of the Florida High School Athletics Association bylaws, which state, “No school employee, athletic staff member, or representative of a school’s athletic interests (boosters) may engage in NIL representation.”
An internal investigation of the situation stemmed from a July 2025 complaint. The investigation was ongoing throughout the fall of 2025, and the written reprimand was delivered in 2026. District records of the investigation were only recently released.
In the school district’s written warning to Clavijo, it said, “failure to comply with the district directives could be considered insubordination and lead to result in further discipline, including termination.”
The school district was at liberty to hand down myriad punishments to Clavijo, from the written warning to termination. Ultimately, after finding Clavijo failed to “use professional judgement” and “to follow policies, rules and procedures,” the district opted for a lighter punishment for the three-time state championship coach.
However, the FHSAA may still investigate the situation. The governing body’s handling of Clavijo’s discipline could stray from the school district’s written reprimand.
Clavijo has apologized, saying he wasn’t aware of the FHSAA bylaws that prohibit him from assisting student-athletes with NIL deals. While he did not dispute the findings of the investigation, he said he received “no training” on the matter.
According to CBS 12, the student-athlete who paid Clavijo to act as his NIL agent was later recruited to play football at the University of Michigan.
