Update: 4:25 p.m.: Head coach Larry Fedora and athletic director Bubba Cunningham each issued statements at Monday's press conference, regarding the suspensions of 13 football players.
“We self-reported to the NCAA back in January," Fedora said. "I’m extremely disappointed by our players' actions, and how those actions reflect on them and our program, our department and the University. Each year, every player is educated about the rules regarding apparel and equipment, specifically that the sale of apparel and equipment is an NCAA violation.
"Every single player signs an agreement, acknowledging those rules. And I will say these young men do know better, and shouldn’t have made the choice they made. But I do want you to understand that they’re young men. My responsibility is to help grow them into men. They’re going to face the consequences of their actions and we’re gonna move forward and this is going to be a great teachable moment for our football team. Accountability is an important core principle in this program. Not only for our players, but also for our staff, and these players are going to be held accountable by the penalties announced today.”
After Fedora spoke, Cunningham walked to the podium to make his remarks.
"We have really high expectations for our student-athletes, for our coaches," Cunningham said. "In this case, we’re disappointed. Disappointed that the student-athletes won’t be able to compete for a couple of games. Disappointed that we have to report this. I’m really pleased with our compliance operation.
"I thought the compliance operation, once we found out about it, worked really quick to react. I want to compliment the coaches, the students for coming together really quickly. For providing accurate information to us so that we can compile that and turn it into the NCAA. The NCAA turned it around really quickly, and so we’re now at the point of implementing the penalties associated with the mistakes that we made. We will continue to strive to get better. We have to continue to get our educational program better. We have to get better in so many different ways. Encourage the students to make good decisions.
"But we certainly made a mistake and we’ll have to suffer the consequences and play without a couple of players. But I’m really encouraged by the students and their reaction. The teammates have all supported them. They’re excited to get going with the 2018 season and we’re looking forward to putting this behind us and having a great year."
