A former Auburn football staff member has been arrested after police say he stole recruiting evaluations and sent them to other schools, a case that brings an unusual kind of recruiting scandal to the Tigers.
David Jenrath, 24, turned himself in Monday in Auburn, Alabama, and faces two charges: theft of trade secrets and computer tampering. He was still being held in custody as of Tuesday.
According to ESPN, Jenrath allegedly took Auburn’s recruiting evaluations on July 19 and passed the information along to other schools. In one instance, he reportedly identified himself as “Don Julio.”
The charging documents say Jenrath “obtained and/or retained confidential, proprietary information consisting of Auburn University Athletics' information, and/or knowingly made a copy or reproduction of Auburn University Athletics' trade secrets and communicate or transmit a secret without the owners' consent.”
The case does not accuse him of sending Auburn’s NIL spending or playbooks. Even so, prosecutors moved forward based on what was allegedly taken and how it was accessed.
Auburn police said Tuesday that a “business reported that sensitive information was stolen from the business and distributed to their competitors.”
Jenrath was not a full-time Auburn employee, ESPN reported. His now-deleted LinkedIn page listed him as a player personnel scouting assistant for the football program from January through June of this year, with a focus on running backs and safeties.
He is originally from Tennessee and attended the University of Tennessee for college. It is not clear whether any of the information was sent to Tennessee’s football program.
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