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A Tennessee Volunteers football helmet sits facing an Auburn Tigers football helmet.
Former Auburn Tigers football staffer David Rudolph Jenrath turned himself in to local police on Monday and is facing a pair of felony charges after allegedly sharing proprietary info with the Tennessee Volunteers ahead of their SEC showdown on Saturday at Neyland Stadium.
Jenrath, 24, is a Franklin, Tennessee native and is facing charges of theft of trade secrets and computer tampering after he allegedly stole the Tigers’ trade secrets and sent confidential recruiting information to competing schools — including the Vols — just days before the two teams are set to square off.
Here is the APD release on the arrest of David Jenrath: https://t.co/VrN47vMmAQ
A former Auburn employee now enrolled at Tennessee per his LinkedIn, he is charged with stealing trade secrets and computer tampering, on the week of the Auburn-Tennessee football game. pic.twitter.com/tFIEraFViV
— Justin Lee (@ByJustinLee) September 29, 2026
What Info Did Auburn Staffer Pass Along To Tennessee?
According to police, someone within the Auburn athletics department reported that sensitive information had been taken and given to opposing teams.
One of the teams received the information and returned it to Auburn, which in turn caused the department to contact police.
Investigators then identified Jenrath as the primary suspect in the scheme and obtained warrants.
Legal documents laying out charges allege that Jenrath retained confidential athletics information and transmitted those trade secrets without consent while employed by Auburn.
In the computer-tampering charge, Jenrath is accused of disclosing, using, controlling or taking computer programs and data “with the intent to harass Auburn University Athletics by disclosing trade secrets of Auburn University Athletics to their opponents.”
Jenrath has already stripped his social media and LinkedIn accounts. However, the latter showed that he worked in an Applied Artificial Intelligence/Sports Analytics position with the Tigers.
A further description says that he “served as a Player Personnel Scouting Assistant for Auburn Football, supporting the Running Backs and Special Teams units.”
Neither Auburn nor Tennessee has offered a statement on the matter.