College Football

10 claims made against Auburn football last week that don't look so solid right now

Last week, reports by Roopstigo's Selena Roberts and ESPN's Shaun Assael combined to accuse Auburn of just about everything a college football program can be accused of.

By Jason Kirk Apr 8, 2013, 12:10pm EDT

Days later, how much of it checks out?


	Claim	Verdict
	Auburn meddled with a police investigation and could thus help send an innocent Mike McNeil to jail.	Shaky. McNeil pled guilty and agreed to a plea deal Monday, though that only means the evidence in his favor was lacking.
	Auburn sat idly while a synthetic marijuana "epidemic" tore apart its roster.	Hogwash from start to finish. Auburn reacted to the spice phenomenon admirably at virtually every step.
	Pretty much anything else claimed in the ESPN story.	/squealing fart noise
	Auburn adjusted player grades, including Mike Dyer's, just before the 2010 BCS National Championship.	Unproven. The two sources are McNeil and Mike Blanc, who's called the report "outrageous" and said it "isn't true." Dyer's family, FWIW, has denied.
	Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp paid a player $400 in his office.	Likely false. McNeil is the only source, Muschamp has denied it, it's impossible to prove and it's hard to believe a veteran BCS coordinator would be that flagrant.
	Auburn virtually banished McNeil from college football, preventing him from transferring for two years.	Likely false. Gene Chizik has denied it (along with everything else), it's very hard to do and really not worth the trouble.
	Auburn paid recruits on visits.	Unproven. Neiko Thorpe, quoted during Roberts' section on recruits, tweeted, "We didn't talk about NCAA violations or recruiting."
	Specifically, Auburn paid Dre Kirkpatrick.	Unproven. Kirkpatrick, who went to Alabama, denied he was paid by Auburn and said Alabama and Texas were more fun than Auburn anyway.
	Chizik's coaching staff unfairly targeted its own black players, with local police joining in.	Pretty hard to prove! Antoine Carter, the source of the claim, tweeted, "please don't remix my words."
	Auburn paid Darvin Adams not to enter the NFL Draft.	Unproven. Sources besides Adams are McNeil and Blanc. Chizik has correctly pointed out that getting players into the NFL early is good for a program, not the kind of thing to be desperately avoided.

Two final thoughts here:

1.

Why yes, they are linked:

More damning evidence---ESPN reports Auburn's brass hid results of failed drug tests during 2010 championship season es.pn/12n1Ef8
— roopstigo (@roopstigo) April 4, 2013