Joseph Ochoa
Last Thursday was just another day for me, right up until about 5 p.m, when I read a story that I thought was so ludicrous that I assumed it had to be one of those satirical pieces from ClickHole or The Onion.
“Virginia Tech Football Players Apparently Assessed Fines for Missing Meals, Class, Study Hall,” read the headline in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and I was disgusted to learn this was not fake and was confirmed by Bleacher Report, SB Nation and other news outlets.
If a player missed a class that met three times week, the fine was $30, and missing a class that met once a week resulted in a $90 penalty. Being late for study hall drew a $5 fine, and missing study hall, which was later than five minutes, was a $10 fine.
Other infractions included $50 fines for having a dirty room or locker and $100 for incurring a flagrant/unsportsmanlike penalty. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, it remains unclear if the fines were actually levied or who or how the structure originated.
Student-athletes are not paid, and while whether or not they should be paid is an argument for another day, fining an unpaid member of a team seems dubious at best, and given these same student-athletes generate millions of dollars in revenue for schools and top programs, it feels like something someone would read about Amazon employees, not football programs that promote building relationships with student-athletes.
Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech’s head coach and someone I assume was at least aware of what transpired under his leadership, dismissed questions regarding the fines and said the team is only focused on beginning the season in the next few days.
“That’s over and done with, and we are approaching Ohio State now,” he said.
Whit Babcock, the athletic director of Virginia Tech, went on the record saying he had no prior knowledge about the fine system but went on to state that the system has been discontinued “effective immediately.”
I can understand Babcock not knowing about the system. He’s head of the entire athletic department and has to make sure he knows what’s going on in all the sports, even the ones that don’t generate more than $21 million in revenue that football and basketball rake in each year according to Techsideline.com.
The fact this existed disgusts me to my core, and it’s telling how swift both Beamer and Babcock reacted to squashing the program.
Bud Foster, defensive coordinator for the Hokies, gave probably the most haunting statement about fining players, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. He stated players could potentially be fined out of the cost of attendance for the athlete.
“We are going to look into doing that,” Foster said. “You need discipline, and that’s one way of doing that.”
Foster is not the only coach who believes this. University of Cincinnati head football coach Tommy Tuberville has been on the record stating he wants to withhold cost of attendance money of students who commit off-field infractions, according to Joe Schad of ESPN.
The fact that there is more than one coach is on board with fining players means that there are probably more coaches who are accepting of the idea of fining college football players, which is a big problem. Although plenty of players come on scholarship, walk-ons do not. The whole idea reeks of indentured servitude.
The NCAA already enforces a strict policy that restricts athletes from receiving money for autographs or memorabilia, but a fine system could force more players to attempt under-the-table, cash-for-favors deals. After all, if the programs are profit-motivated, should athletes not be expected to act the same?
Even Babcock said that though Virginia Tech discontinued its fine system, they are probably not the only school that is doing this. So while this may be finished for Virginia Tech, the problem is far from over for the NCAA.