The Auburn Tigers football program racked up a laundry list of illicit behavior during the four seasons Gene Chizik spent there as head coach, according to a report on Roopstigo.com by former New York Times and Sports Illustrated reporter Selena Roberts.
Roberts' report cites three former players that as many as nine Auburn football players had their grades changed to ensure their eligibility for the 2011 BCS National Championship game, which the Tigers won 22-19.
Former defensive lineman Mike Blanc told Roberts that the team thought they would be without running back Michael Dyer, who was said to be one of the players who had his grades changed. Blanc now denies talking to Roberts, saying, "Man this article is outrageous and not true."
Another accusation in Roberts' report is that the university paid players with NFL draft prospects cash to stay in school and play for the Tigers. One of those players, wide receiver Darvin Adams, said as much to Roberts.
Roberts said Blanc and Mike McNeil told her the sums paid to players to remain with the team were "several thousand dollars." McNeil said he received money despite never asking for it. "I had no clue what it was about because I'd never directly asked him for anything," McNeil told Roberts. "He [Will Muschamp, now the head coach of the Florida Gators] slid about $400 over to me. He went into a drawer and gave me money and said, 'Is this enough? Is this good?' And I said, 'Yeah, I'm good.' "
McNeil is currently awaiting trial for an armed robbery in 2011. Former teammate Antonio Goodwin was sentenced to 15 years in jail for the incident McNeil is facing trial for, although he maintains his innocence.
Former defensive back Nieko Thorpe told Roberts that Auburn went far past its legally allotted funds for recruiting visits, and said coaches gave players $500 to show current Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick a good time.
While many of the players who spoke to Roberts have backed off their statements, Roberts defended her reporting and blamed outside pressures on her sources for their denials.
"I think it's very difficult to take a strong stance and to tell the truth and then to have to deal with the consequences in a place where I think the story even shows that there is a great deal of pressure to keep what's in-house, in-house."
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