Tuberville comments cause stir; UC says policies haven't changed

University of Cincinnati football coach Tommy Tuberville caused a social media stir Thursday via an ESPN online story, in which Tuberville was quoted as saying he will consider withholding some cost of attendance money from players who fail to meet various academic and conduct requirements.

UC officials, in turn, said nothing has changed aside from the scholarship award increase to include cost of attendance.

"All we're saying is that you're accountable for your actions," UC athletic director Mike Bohn told The Enquirer. "Nothing has changed."

Maggie McKinley, UC associate athletic director/Senior woman's administrator and lead NCAA compliance officer, said the increase in scholarship award will equate to $5,504 for full scholarship student-athletes. That figure is above and beyond what UC student-athletes have received in previous years, McKinley told The Enquirer. The money will be distributed in 10 equal payments during the course of the regular school year.

"Essentially, we're still operating as we always have been," McKinley said. "If a student-athlete violates university, athletic department or team policies, their scholarship could be subject to reduction or cancellations."

Tuberville, in the story Thursday on the ESPN website, said he will consider withholding some cost of attendance money from players who fail to meet academic requirements or violate team rules or athletic department policies, including student code of conduct.

"We are holding them accountable," Tuberville told ESPN.

Tuberville made further comment on the issue after Thursday's practice.

“What we’re going to do is going to happen at every school. We just talked about it. We want our guys to understand that hey, when you leave here we want you to have money in your pocket. We don’t want you to have to go out and get loans from the government," he said. “It’s all about accountability. We don’t fine anybody or anything. I don’t know where that word came from. They’re accountable for what they do here, fees and parking tickets and all those kind of things. It hasn’t changed. If you don’t take it out of their cost of attendance money, their Mom and Dad are going to have to pay it from home. So, it’s got to come from somewhere.”

Tuberville was also asked about an apparent Virginia Tech 'fine' list that appeared on Twitter Thursday and whether it was real.

“No. We’re not going to be that petty. Everybody has an account with the university. I’ve got an account with the university. If I don’t pay a parking ticket, and it goes to that account, you’ve got to pay it. It’s no different. You’ve got to take care of your responsibilities," he said. “We’re not out here to penalize anybody. We’re out here to teach. We’re an educational institution, and this is a great opportunity for the guys to learn to take care of things, be responsible for what you have and make a better person out of yourself.”

Bohn, speaking of the UC policies, was quoted in the ESPN story: "It's not a fine. It's not a threat. It's a tool. We want to help our student-athletes and are committed to helping them."

Speaking later to The Enquirer, Bohn said: "Nothing has changed. It's just now their scholarship value has increased, so there may be a little more on the line."

McKinley said UC is providing a group of its athletes amounts ranging from $5,504 to $7,018, depending on factors including their academic programs and whether they are living on campus or off.

The aforementioned high-end figure was the largest USA TODAY Sports found recently, as it obtained information from athletics departments at more than 100 of the 128 Football Bowl Subdivision schools about their additional spending for cost-of-attendance-based scholarships and the unlimited meals and snacks for athletes, allowed by an NCAA rules change in April 2014.