Auburn police arrested former Auburn football staffer David Rudolph Jenrath on Monday on charges of theft of trade secrets and computer tampering after he allegedly shared Auburn’s recruiting plans with up to 11 other schools, CBS Sports has learned.
Police documents show Jenrath passed confidential athletics information to other programs without consent and is accused of “disclosing, using, controlling or taking computer programs and data” with the intent to harass Auburn University Athletics by disclosing Auburn University Athletics trade secrets to their opponents.
Jenrath, 24, was retained by first-year coach Alex Golesh’s team in January but was let go in the spring, sources told CBS Sports. Jenrath allegedly used a pseudonymous email address named “Don Julio” to share 10 documents containing personal information about high school recruits that Auburn had targeted for the classes of 2027, 2028 and 2029, sources told CBS Sports. The subject line of the email also included Golesh’s home address, a source said.
The documents contained Auburn coaches’ evaluations of recruits, including information on who Auburn’s new staff was and was not targeting. The emails contained no information about the game plan, the source said.
Jenrath currently identifies himself on social media as a student studying sports analytics at the University of Tennessee, the Tigers’ opponent this week in the SEC. Jenrath, who played football as a kicker in high school, worked as a player personnel recruiting assistant at Auburn, helping with running backs, special teams and player recruiting, according to his LinkedIn profile, which has since been deleted online.
Police investigated the anonymous emails for at least two months and identified Jenrath as the source of the messages, sources said. One of Auburn’s competitors who received the information gave it to Auburn, police said.
Jenrath turned himself in to Auburn police Monday and was transported to Lee County Jail, where he was being held on $15,000 bond.
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