(Another) Word From Jay Jacobs Re: ESPN's False Allegations

[AUChizad]

http://www.auburntigers.com/digital/z_auburn_statement.html

A WORD FROM JAY JACOBS
April 22, 2013
 
Dear Auburn Family,
 
In response to an article published by Roopstigo.com earlier this month, we have reviewed the allegations of academic fraud made in the story. Even though many of the sources interviewed for the article criticized the reporter for misquoting or misrepresenting them as soon as the story appeared, the allegations were serious enough to prompt an internal review.
 
The attached document illustrates that there are numerous inaccuracies and misrepresentations in the story.
 
The most serious allegation is the claim that academic fraud occurred prior to the 2011 BCS National Championship game. Auburn Athletics and Auburn University Internal Auditing have completed independent reviews of the academic allegations. There is no evidence academic fraud occurred.
 
Feature Printable: A Word From Jay Jacobs (PDF Format)  |  Feature Printable: Selena Roberts Facts (PDF Format)
 
The article alleges improper grade changes took place to make nine student-athletes eligible for the 2011 BCS National Championship Game. That is false. In fact, six players were academically ineligible for the BCS National Championship game, and none of them made the trip to Arizona with the team.
 
The article also states that former football student-athlete Michael Dyer was academically ineligible prior to the BCS National Championship game. That is also false. Mr. Dyer was never in danger of academic ineligibility. In fact, he passed 15 hours during the fall of 2010 (nine more than required by the NCAA) and had a 2.8 GPA at the end of the fall semester. Mr. Dyer actually passed a combined 24 hours in the summer and fall semesters.
 
The article also implies that an academic counselor who works with the athletic department kept Mike McNeil eligible by changing his grade in a course from an F to a C. The article fails to point out that the professor changed Mr. McNeil's grade after documented reasons were provided, including excused absences from classes for medical reasons. The independent review by Auburn University Internal Auditing showed that all institutional policies regarding grade changes for excused absences were followed.
 
It is also worth noting that while Mr. McNeil also alleges that former Auburn assistant coach Will Muschamp paid him during the 2007 season, Coach Muschamp immediately and publicly denied the allegations, as was widely reported throughout the media.
 
The article also claims that Mr. McNeil recalls receiving $500 cash to entertain a former prospect, Dre Kirkpatrick, while Mr. Kirkpatrick was on an official visit to Auburn. Mr. Kirkpatrick never took an official visit to Auburn. Mr. Kirkpatrick has since publicly stated that no one at Auburn gave him money or spent money on him during unofficial visits to our campus.
 
As Auburn's Athletics Director, it's my job - no matter how proud I am of Auburn - to carefully review charges made against our program when warranted.
 
As the facts demonstrate, the article is clearly flawed. I want you to know that I will always act on the basis of facts. I will continue to fight for Auburn University, and I will continue to defend this great institution against such attacks.

One more thing needs to be said about this story, which unfairly attacked former Head Coach Gene Chizik. Coach Chizik came to Auburn with a strong record of rules compliance and a reputation as a man of the utmost character and integrity. I have enormous respect for Coach Chizik, the way he ran his program throughout his entire tenure at Auburn and also the way he left - with dignity and class.
 
AUBURN WILL BOUNCE BACK
There is no question that this has been a tough year for Auburn Athletics. We all expect better, and we know we have to win. As disappointing as this year has been, rest assured we will bounce back. We always have.
 
As part of our efforts to get better, we are also committed to being as transparent as possible with our stakeholders. That is why I wanted to let you know that a top-notch team of current and former coaches, athletics administrators, student-athletes and business executives will be coming in to give us a comprehensive evaluation. We welcome this review.
 
The review committee, which was selected by President Gogue, is comprised of individuals whose expertise and experience puts them in position to independently and objectively evaluate the Athletics Department-while also offering insight into our strengths as well as the areas in which we must improve.
 
It will be a top-to-bottom review, but Dr. Gogue has asked the committee to focus on five specific areas. They include the following: academic and support services for our student-athletes; the department's financial management and health; the gameday experience for fans and customer service; all aspects of competition, including sportsmanship, compliance and winning; and the department's management structure, including the effectiveness of its leadership.
 
This review of athletics is part of Dr. Gogue's regular evaluation process that takes place annually for all senior administrators and campus units.
 
A-DAY TO REMEMBER, TITLE TO CELEBRATE
In closing, I want to thank all 83,401 of you who came to Saturday's A-Day game. I also want to thank the tens of thousands who came to the celebration at Toomer's Corner. It was a day none of us will ever forget.
 
It is fitting that Saturday's celebration ended up not being the last time to roll the historic oaks. Coach Greg Williams and the Auburn Equestrian team gave us one more good excuse to roll them again last night.
 
I know you join me in congratulating the Equestrian team on winning both the overall and Hunt Seat National Championships in Waco this weekend. The wins marked the program's third overall National Championship and its third Hunt Seat title.
 
The trees might be dead, but the Auburn spirit is alive. And it's stronger than ever.
 
God Bless and War Eagle!

[Jumbo]

Booom, sadly it doesn't matter the damage has been done.

[AUChizad]

By the way, the Allegations-Facts PDF is must-read shit.

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/aub/genrel/auto_pdf/2012-13/misc_non_event/selena_roberts_facts.pdf

[Snaggletiger]

Gotta' give credit where due. As baseless as the allegations were, going ahead with an investigation was 

[GH2001]

Damn, Jay came out swinging. Gotta give him credit.

[dallaswareagle]

It will be a top-to-bottom review:

I wonder if this includes the Athletic Directors job performance?

[WiregrassTiger]

It will be a top-to-bottom review:

I wonder if this includes the Athletic Directors job performance?

Ahhhhhh........no.

[AU_Tiger_2000]

It will be a top-to-bottom review:

I wonder if this includes the Athletic Directors job performance?

You know that all this precludes us being able to fire anybody for the near future.  Can't you see the headlines?

"Auburn Fires Athletic Director Amid Grade Swapping Investigation"

[AUChizad]

Gene Chizik just skull-fucked all haters on JOX.

They will put it up as a podcast here later.

http://www.joxfm.com/page.php?page_id=271

Not up yet.

Brandon Marcello is going to post some highlights soon. Also not up yet.

[AUChizad]

http://www.stationcaster.com/player_skinned.php?s=1261&c=6251&f=1328911

[The Prowler]

Booom, sadly it doesn't matter the damage has been done.

Exactly.

[AUChizad]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/sec/2013/04/22/auburn-roopstigo-athletic-department-review/2103993/

Headline: Auburn launches review of athletics program

 

[AUChizad]

Full transcript of the Chizik interview.

http://auburnauthority.com/2013/04/22/full-gene-chizik-radio-interview-transcript/

AUBURN — Earlier this afternoon former Auburn coach Gene Chizik had a more than 25-minute interview on WJOX with The Jox Roundtable. Below is the entire transcript of the interview.

To have Auburn out defending you still, how does that make you feel knowing a few months ago that they parted ways with you as the head football coach?
It makes you feel good because here’s the reality of it Jim, Auburn obviously feels the same way. When I was the head coach at Auburn, I feel like myself, my staff and Auburn in general both we had a lot of allegations and accusation thrown our way that again, as you stated earlier, Jay came back which is exactly what he should have done. He came back with facts, with data because we’re about facts, we’re about truth and we’re about data. He came back with that aafter doing obviously an extensive internal investigation and here’s the facts and you can take them or leave them bt the bottom line is Auburn did exactly what they should have done in reviewing this.

People are going to say well why are you out today? I’ve laid low for four months or whatnot but the simple reality of it is is that I’m a man that believes in integrity, in character, that’s important to me. Well my name’s thrown in here with this. So What I do know is fair or unfair when it comes to the media, usually the immediate media/TV blitz with unsubstantiated allegations and accusations that come out get most of the media attention. So the reason I’m out is simply because as well as Jay and the athletic department, we want to make as big a splash with the truth as what was accused and the different allegations that were out there and I think it’s only fair.

Difficult to see former players make allegation s against former university?
I think it’s tough but I think again, what we don’t know is how, what the context was in which it was said, how it was said, what was out there. The bottom line is the majority of the players that come through Auburn University are very appreciative of the opportunity that they’ve received to play football and get a degree at Auburn. They’ve very appreciate of that. So any allegations that come back from a few former players that really shed any negative light I think you have to understand that No.1 what are their circumstances and what is the motive and No. 2 that’s not representative of the majority of phenomenal kids that have gone through that program and will continue and are as we speak going through that program.

Did Auburn change grades to keep player eligible?
I think the facts are really revealed in the internal investigation because really and truly that allegation is ludicrous. It really is ludicrous.

One of the allegations I read in there is the MVP of the national championship game, Michael Dyer, his grades had to be changed. Well, where did that come from? Where were the facts? What was the data that supported that, because the reality of it is if you read Auburn’s response, it’s fact. He had already passed 15 hours and had a 2.85 GPA.

So if we’re educated men and we’re sitting around a table, how many grades do you have to change to get that to a 2.85 GPA. It just doesn’t even make sense. But furthermore, I will still go back to unsubstantiated allegations, accusations. Auburn simply came back and showed the facts.

Has coaching staff ever pressured a professor or attempted to change a grade outside of the norm of the university protocol?
Absolutely not. We don’t deal with professors. We have an outstanding academic support staff. Everything that they do is the utmost class, it’s the utmost integrity. They’re the ones that deal on a daily basis with anything academically related. Simply, coaches dealing with professors, putting pressure on people, it’s simply not true.

What would be the motive for Mike McNeil to throw his former teammates and team under the bus?
I don’t know. And I’m going to be honest with you, it’s a very unfortunate case for Michael McNeil.

He’s in a tough place. I can’t even imagine what him and his family are going through in terms of what they’re feeling and motives, but I will say this: Everything that Mike McNeil and the three other individuals right now that are up for charges for the crime they allegedly committed, it’s all personal responsibility.

I can assure you this: As the head coach at Auburn, there were multiple educational sessions on making the right choices, doing the right things, to the point where even when that unfortunate event happened, I had a team meeting that morning. We were getting ready to go on spring break, and I explicitly told them and reminded them of the decisions that they need to make. They were getting ready to have seven or eight days consecutively off.

The importance of not embarrassing their family, this university, everybody that you represent. Because the truth of it is when one player makes a bad decision, then it exponentially affects everybody around them.  It’s really tough.

What I want to make clear is that you can’t take four players that made a bad choice, and you can make a case dependent on everybody else, let’s be honest. but it still comes down to personal responsibility.

I feel very confident that on a daily basis we did what we should do to educate these players, to try to coach them into making the right decisions.

If they got off on the wrong path we tried to direct them back on he right path. We did that. I’m still going to come down to the fact that you, me you, every day we get up, when our feet hit the floor, we have a responsibility and that is to make the right choices. Unfortunately, I can’t speak intelligently about why anybody would do that, but I’m not in their shoes. I feel very, very bad for the families and these young men. I can’t speak for the same shoes they’re in.

How is your relationship with Mike McNeil?
Mike McNeil was never really any type of behavioral problem. We had as good a relationship, in my opinion, as you can have with 126 guys on your team.

As a head coach, you don’t have the same relationship with each player as you did if you were their position coach and you’re in their meetings, but our relationship I thought without question was very good. Over the years that’s one of the things I’ve prided myself on is my rapport with my players. I’ve always, always felt very strongly about that. If they were getting attacked, I always felt strongly about coming to the defense of that player.

I never made any bones about that. I say this about Mike and unfortunately the other three that are in this situation, and I feel for them and their families. But again, at the end of the day, personal responsibility.

Melodie Campbell says in the Selena Roberts story that you and the coaching staff turned your back on Mike McNeil. Did that happen?
I don’t think it happened at all. Matter of fact … Again, let’s talk data. At one point in the conversation, apparently I read that there was never any contact with the family until 3:30 (p.m.). Quite the contrary. Three calls, one at 9 o’clock in the morning, one at 11, one a little bit later. We contacted back and forth with them four different times in the day.

The problem that people have to understand is, when there is police involved and they’re doing an investigation, you don’t have a lot of information. You can’t keep going back and forth on what you know and what you don’t know because you’re not being told anything. So the reality of it is you can have conversations but they’re usually not very informative in terms of what you know and what you don’t know because the police are doing their due diligence on moving forward with an investigation. It’s that simple.

Darvin Adams released a statement, your thought on him coming forward?

I’m very proud of him. You know, Darvin’s a quiet guy. He loves to play football. He doesn’t like the spotlight. He doesn’t want to be the media darling, but what was important to Darvin was, did he get the truth out? And the truth was simply that no coaches – because of the allegation if you go back was whether he was offered money to stay – and that’s just simply not true.

Again, I want to go back and address the facts. That’s why I’m very, very proud of him. He addressed the facts, and the facts were no coach and no booster offered him anything to play at Auburn, and no coach and no booster offered him anything to stay at Auburn. That was just simply a bogus allegation and I’m very proud of him for stepping up to the plate and getting it all cleared up.

From Cam Newton through every recruit that came through Auburn during your time, would you say that about every player that came through Auburn?

Well, let me just make it real clear – es, I will say that – but I’m going to back it up with fact again because I feel like there’s so many unsubstantiated facts out there. The NCAA is probably spent the better part of two years at Auburn, so if you’re an educated person … Starting back with Cam Newton, which, I want refresh everybody’s memory: It started out as a Mississippi State problem and somehow for 13 months became an Auburn problem. OK? Well, the NCAA comes in, they do their due diligence, which they do well. Case in point, when they come in and they’re going to do their investigations, when there’s something wrong they’re going to find it.

So, let’s look at the facts. Let’s look at Miami. Let’s look at Ohio State. Let’s look at North Carolina. Let’s look at, most recently, Oregon. They spent the better part of two years at Auburn, so would it not be common sense that when they came in there to look at Auburn about payments of players they found nothing? But the problem is that for 13 months, when there’s an investigation going on, are there people frustrated because I can’t come out and say, ‘Hey, look, here’s what’s going on.’ Can Auburn come out and say that? No. Because if you know the strategies of the NCAA, you can’t impede the process of an investigation. Our compliance department, myself, anybody related to Auburn – we can’t come out and do that. That is going to be impeding the process of the investigation.

From Day 1 you would have done that?
“Oh Day 1, day 1, day 1. I am absolutely sure that there was absolutely nothing going on. That’s why at the first part of it, we’re going through the season and people are saying ‘how can you do this, how can you be so forced?’ because I was absolutely adamant and sure that they weren’t going to find anything with Auburn. Now what was happening somewhere else with the other schools and all that, that wasn’t my problem. My point is the NCAA leaves and you get a one-sentence response to 13 months of getting drug through the mud and what did they find? They said they found nothing. My point is, how can they go to all of these different institutions come out with major violations – here’s something that people need to know, Auburn has not had a major violation in 20 years. So my suspicion is that when they leave Auburn again and tie up whatever they’re finishing tying up at this point a year from now it’ll be 21 years. That’s how confident I am. So would I have loved to step out at the time, put it all to bed, absolutely. Can’t do it.

No illegal inducement or anything to Cam Newton or anyone representing him?
100 percent.

Why is there so much scrutiny on 2010 team?
You know, Ryan, that’s an enigma to me. It really is. It’s a mystery. Because it just seems like for two years, and really that took away, to a certain degree, it took away so much from the players and coaches that earned so much on the field for that 2010 season. But let me tell you something about Cam Newton. The fact that he had to endure so much swirling criticism, allegations, including us, including Auburn, myself, everybody involved. With what that man was able to do, and the focus he was able to maintain for a period of months, all the way up to, he’s getting asked questions five minutes before he gets the Heisman Trophy. What he was able to overcome and really stay focused and keep his eye on the ball, was simply amazing to me, but back to your question, again, it started out as a Mississippi State problem, became an Auburn problem, and really and truly, from there, we really can’t figure out, because it’s without question, has to be the most scrutinized program in the country. I still go back to what are the facts? The NCAA’s been in there almost two years. They found no major violations. So I still stick to the facts.

 

Because of the allegations the 2010 title always tainted to masses?
Well, you know, I can’t really speak on that. I can’t really say how it’s going to be viewed one way or the other. it’s just a shame that it was a season that was so miraculous and there were so many magical moments in the season for coaches and players, and for anybody to even have to put an asterisk on that and say, oh, let’s defend ourselves. It’s a shame. It’s really a shame. Look, I’ve been a part of three undefeated seasons in 10 years. Three. Two at Auburn, and one at Texas. I’ve got two national championships I’ve been blessed to be a part of. None of them feel like, at times, like that did. And simply to the Auburn people, it’s not fair, it’s not right, but it is what it is.

Going back to what we said earlier, that’s why I’m glad that Auburn has come out and basically given facts. That’s why I’m here today. I’m here because I care about my reputation, I care about the integrity of who I am and what I do, and I’m simply giving out the facts, because I’m 100 percent confident that we did it right. The bottom line is that we had a 3-9 season, I’m not the head coach anymore. I understand the business, and I understand what people have to do. Am I bitter? No. Do I wish that I was still the coach at Auburn? I would love it, because I love the place.

You asked me at what point how I am with the university and with Jay Jacobs, and everybody, you know what, it’s business. If you get your feelings hurt because of business decisions that people have to make, then apparently you don’t understand the business, so hey, I love football, I love coaching, I love being around the kids, but the bottom-line is, hey, they made a change, I’m moving forward.

 

Cam Newton’s one-day suspension, Auburn issue or something else?
That was basically protocol. That was basically the NCAA had to do. We came back and made a quick rebuttal. I’m going to say, without getting into the detail of really what that was, because to be honest with you, I wasn’t even exactly real clear on the internal reasons that that has to happen that way, but I was always confident that there was going to be a reinstatement and that he was going to be back on the field. That’s me personally, because again, I’m going to go back to the same thing. We hadn’t done anything wrong. So that was really more of a red-tape issue with the NCAA.

Response to McNeil quote about not liking tattoos and dreadlocks:
Very unfortunate. Very unfortunate. And I take that to heart, because in my 27 years of coaching, the rapport with my players – and I can go back years – the rapport with my players has always been what I’ve taken a lot of pride in. And I think, again, I don’t know why he would say that. That hurts me. I don’t feel like, I feel like if that was the case, why would I have recruited players with tattoos? Why would I have recruited players with dreadlocks?

So, unfortunately, that’s the way he feels. But that’s entirely, in my opinion, never the way I treated a player. I was always fair and consistent, and I feel good about that.

ESPN report of epidemic of “spice”?
Well, the word ‘epidemic,’ I’m not sure what that means either. Apparently it means a lot, a lot of players were doing it. Here’s what I know: July of 2010, the state of Alabama deemed spice illegal. But what was very difficult about that, that really got our attention as coaches, is that on one hand it’s illegal, but on the other hand you can walk into a convenience story and buy it along with a pack of bubble gum. That in itself is a challenging, challenging issue. Well, that’s where it started. And we were definitely on the front – there’s no question we did everything we should have done in terms of wrapping our arms around this new drug that nobody really had an idea about. The military was trying to do it. The NCAA was trying to figure it out. The state and federal governments were trying to figure it out. And so were we. So we had to investigate a lot. We had to go to our labs and say, ‘We got to have a test.’ They came up with a test, the days later we implemented it.

But I want to go back to facts. You say, ‘epidemic.’ When we started testing our players three days after our lab came up with a test, less than 10 percent of our players tested positive. Is that OK? Do we want that number to be zero? Absolutely. But the bottom line is, that’s a far cry from the 50 percent allegation that’s out there.

And then let me go one step further. When we finally had a year to wrap our hands around this drug, implement policy in the university to make it a substance-abuse drug and find a refined test for it, 2,500 samples were taken – 2,500 hundred. Three players tested positive. Is that an epidemic? Again, I’m not sure what that means, but I will finish with this: You can’t let these stories of two guys – and this is just reality – the stories of two guys – and I feel for them, because I can’t even imagine being in their shoes – but you’ve got two guys who are up for alleged armed robbery, their defense is spice. Don’t want to judge them, haven’t been in their shoes, but what unfortunately has happened, is that this story of two young men has turned into an indictment for a whole football team that’s backed up by no facts. An indictment of me and the way I ran the program. An indictment of our coaches. An indictment of our athletic department. And it’s not right. Because the facts are simply this: The data that we use doesn’t support the word ‘epidemic’ or even what their allegations are. It’s just simply not supported by data.

How difficult will it be to watch Auburn football this fall?
It’s going to be difficult for me. It’s a place where – in the college football world, I’ve moved probably close to 10 or 11 times in 27 years doing this – Auburn’s been the place for my children and myself where we’ve been there seven years. And so, that’s the longest we’ve been at a place. And I’ve got a high regard for Auburn. I got a high regard for the players. It’s going to be hard watching them. But I wish them all the best. And, again, I understand the business. And it is what it is.

So I’m looking forward and I’m focused to moving on whatever the next may be for myself and my family, and that’s where I’m keeping my focus.

Will you coach again someday?

Well I definitely want to have those options available for myself. I still feel like I have a lot to offer to young men. I still feel like I have a lot to offer to the coaching profession. Again, right now we’re weighing out different options with different people and things of that nature. And we’re just going to move forward and see where we land next.

[Townhallsavoy]

Joe Schad is such a prick.  "Yeah, Auburn provided all kinds of facts, but as we all know, they're going to have to wait on the NCAA's investigation."  "Just because Auburn says it's over, doesn't mean it's over.  The NCAA still..." 

Fuck him.   

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:9200425 

[Snaggletiger]

Okay, did I miss something?  Is the NCAA back on campus?  If so, why?  I mean, some bitch who couldn't make it in the real world, writes another AU hit piece and the NCAA comes knocking? 

[Townhallsavoy]

Okay, did I miss something?  Is the NCAA back on campus?  If so, why?  I mean, some bitch who couldn't make it in the real world, writes another AU hit piece and the NCAA comes knocking?

Who said the NCAA is knocking?  Besides Joe EatsCock, of course. 

Here's one issue I see.  Mark Emmert - a few years ago when the Cam shit was going on - made the statement that any time an allegation is made, the NCAA investigates.  I'm thinking that ESPN, Selena Roberts, and any of fuckstick out there believes that if they make the allegation, the NCAA will have to stick its nose in Auburn's affairs. 

I think recently Emmert made it clear that they no longer give a shit about a newspaper story. 

[Pell City Tiger]

I think recently Emmert made it clear that they no longer give a shit about a newspaper story.

He's made it clear that they don't give a shit about actual photographic evidence of wrongdoing, too. Just ask Tom Albetar.

[djsimp]

Listening to both Jay Jacobs and Gene Chizik defend themselves and Auburn University was a breath of fresh air. Sure, there will still be those who will think what they want because that's what they thought already, but finally getting the chance to hear them come out swinging was great. I mean, I almost felt myself be freed from torture.

[Snaggletiger]

Who said the NCAA is knocking?  Besides Joe EatsCock, of course. 

Here's one issue I see.  Mark Emmert - a few years ago when the Cam shit was going on - made the statement that any time an allegation is made, the NCAA investigates.  I'm thinking that ESPN, Selena Roberts, and any of fuckstick out there believes that if they make the allegation, the NCAA will have to stick its nose in Auburn's affairs. 

I think recently Emmert made it clear that they no longer give a shit about a newspaper story.

This part of Gene Chizik's statement.

Auburn has not had a major violation in 20 years. So my suspicion is that when they leave Auburn again and tie up whatever they’re finishing tying up at this point a year from now it’ll be 21 years. That’s how confident I am. So would I have loved to step out at the time, put it all to bed, absolutely. Can’t do it.

[AUChizad]

By the way, after the Roundtable, Gene also met with the Auburn beat writers.