A former Auburn University football staffer was arrested Monday on charges of theft of trade secrets and computer tampering after allegedly accessing the program’s confidential recruiting plans and sharing them with as many as 11 other schools, according to authorities and reporting from CBS Sports.
Auburn police took David Rudolph Jenrath, 24, into custody, and he was later transported to Lee County Jail after turning himself in, per the same accounts. The arrest caps a months-long investigation that began after Auburn became aware of the apparent breach.
What the Documents Allegedly Contained
According to CBS Sports, no game plan information was compromised. Instead, investigators say Jenrath used the alias “Don Julio” β an apparent nod to the tequila brand β to send documents containing information on recruits in the 2027, 2028, and 2029 high school recruitment cycles. Those documents reportedly included evaluations of the recruits as well as whether Auburn was actively targeting the athletes.
At least one of the schools that received the information turned it back over to Auburn, according to CNAW 2 News. The identity of that school, and of the others, has not been publicly disclosed.
Because the material allegedly involved internal scouting evaluations and targeting lists rather than on-field schemes, the case against Jenrath centers on Auburn’s proprietary recruiting intelligence β information that programs guard as closely as they do their playbooks, since it shapes which athletes they pursue and how they allocate scholarship offers.
Who Is David Jenrath?
Jenrath worked as a player personnel scouting assistant under new head coach Alex Golesh from January 2026 until June, focusing on running backs, special teams, and player recruitment. He was initially brought in under previous head coach Hugh Freeze and remained with the staff when Golesh took over in November 2025.
He was fired in June, a development that On3’s Justin Hokanson told The Next Round came after Jenrath called out of work sick but was later spotted in the student section during Auburn baseball’s Super Regional matchup. Hokanson also provided screenshots suggesting Jenrath had no love lost for his former employer, posting an image with the caption “Yea, someone was upset.”
Jenrath’s since-deleted LinkedIn profile listed him as a student at the University of Tennessee studying sports analytics, and his X account has also been deleted, according to the reporting.
The story was originally broken by On3’s Hokanson before being picked up more broadly Monday. Auburn’s athletic department has not issued a public statement on the arrest.
The timing of the news has not gone unnoticed: the Tigers are preparing to face the Volunteers in Knoxville this Saturday, a matchup that Saturday’s observers have begun calling β with tongue firmly in cheek β the “Don Julio Bowl,” a nod to Jenrath’s alleged alias and his Tennessee ties.
Theft of trade secrets and computer tampering are both serious charges in Alabama, and the case is likely to draw attention from athletic departments well beyond the SEC as they evaluate how vulnerable their own internal recruiting data may be. It is not yet clear whether Jenrath has retained an attorney or entered a plea; court records in Lee County were not immediately available.
Source: www.dailywire.com β https://www.dailywire.com/news/auburn-football-employee-don-julio-arrested-for-leaking-recruiting-information-to-opponents