Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

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UNLV coach Bobby Hauck establishes no-Twitter policy with players

Sees policy as a way to help his players avoid poor decisions

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Several college football coaches around the country this year have made the decision to establish policies regarding their players' use of Twitter.

Now add UNLV to the list.

As fall camp opened last Tuesday, UNLV players said goodbye to their Twitter accounts.

"We did a lot of research around the country," second-year coach Bobby Hauck said. "Everyone in our league has a policy on it, you see the SEC and different people making policies, so we just decided to rein all that in.

"(The policy) gives young guys less of an opportunity to make a bad decision."

UNLV's policy is that players are no longer allowed on Twitter while members of the team. Hauck said players are still allowed on Facebook, citing it as a valuable communication tool between them and both friends and family.

As for Twitter, Hauck saw firsthand last season just how much of a distraction it can be, thus adding more merit to his policy

Following a 44-26 home loss to rival Nevada-Reno early last October, star receiver Phillip Payne posted a few disparaging remarks on his Twitter feed. He caught eight passes for a career-high 170 yards in the game, but the frustration from a 1-4 start to the season boiled over and led to a minor lapse in judgment.

Payne sat two games in the middle of his junior season after being tapped as an All-Mountain West selection heading in, but he and Hauck had a handful of heart-to-heart talks towards the end of the year and smoothed everything over.

He ultimately signed off last week, with a couple of tweets bidding his followers farewell.

So, what are your thoughts on the policy? Share them below.

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