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Virginia Tech will not be fining players out of their COA stipends

Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster got a lot of people's attention Wednesday afternoon when he said the Hokies would possibly be fining players out of their cost-of-attendance stipends.

The COA stipends, instituted this year after NCAA reforms, are over $3,000 per athlete at Virginia Tech and paid to students in two-week increments.

From the Daily Press:

“We’re going to look at that right now,” said Foster, who is entering his 20th season as Tech's defensive coordinator, and his 29th overall season on coach Frank Beamer's staff. “Some people got in trouble for getting up and punishing people at 6 a.m. in the morning. Obviously, you need some discipline for some discipline issues. I think that’s one way that you can potentially do that, control that a little bit. You know, these guys right now haven’t had access to money, unless they’ve been Pell Grant recipients. They’ll want that when it’s all said and done at the end of the day.

“The bottom line is we want guys doing the right thing, being a team all the time, being consistently good, developing those habits and all those type of things, because in the real world, if you don’t adhere to rules and regulations, you get fired. We’re not in a position to fire anybody right now.”

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But the cost-of-attendance stipends are part of players' scholarships. Virginia Tech athletic director Whit Babcock issued a statement Wednesday night disputing Foster's notion and said the school would not be going with the COA fine method.

"It will be discontinued immediately," Babcock said in a statement via HokieHaven.com.

Foster is likely not the only coach in college football who has had the idea that players could be fined out of their cost-of-attendance stipends. And, quite frankly, it's not a surprising thought. It's natural for college coaches to wonder if taking away players' newfound stipends would be an effective form of discipline. Virginia Tech has fined players other perks before. But those perks are just that and not part of their scholarships.

But the idea of COA fines should never have gotten past the wonder page into anything remotely resembling concrete; especially not one communicated to reporters. Foster received lots of much-deserved flack for his comments, which made him look unaware and uneducated when it came to recent NCAA reforms. And given the swift response to his remarks, you can bet a lot of other college football coaches were paying attention and will be choosing their words about cost-of-attendance much more carefully in the future.

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!