To contact us Click
HERE
AUBURN AL Nov 9 2012 - The
Auburn football program has contracted with a privatesecurity firm to help enforce player curfews, an official with the companyconfirmed to The Advertiser.
Stanley Dallas, the Auburn Regional Manager of the EventOperations Group, confirmed members of his staff are working in conjunctionwith members of
Auburn’sfootball player development department to “enforce” player curfews throughoutthe week.
The Event Operations Group, Inc. is a “national full serviceevent management, staffing, and security provider,” according to its website.The firm is used by facilities across the country, including at
Auburn and other SEC schools such as Ole Miss and
Mississippi State, to staff on-campus events in avariety of capacities including security, parking attendants and stadiumushers.
Curfews are a common practice on the evenings before gamesbut
Auburninstituted a nightly curfew, a far more rare practice, and the use of paidpersonnel from a private security firm to assist in enforcing a curfew may beunprecedented.
“We always do what’s in the best interest of our team,”
Auburn coach Gene Chizik said. “We have a curfew checkand we have to employ people to help us with some of the kids off campus. Otherthan that I’m not going into any details of any of that.
“I’ve got one focus and that is
Georgia. So we got our work cut outfor that and be glad to answer any questions about
Georgia.”
Dallassaid the operation – which includes members of his staff going to the homes offootball players who live off-campus and confirming they are home by the team’s11 p.m. curfew – began shortly after the arrest of center Reese Dismukes forpublic intoxication on Aug. 25.
Dallassaid when the use of his staff for curfew checks began a few players were notpleased and had to be spoken to by members of the Player Development staff.
How many members of the EOG are used in the operation, theirworks hours, compensation and level of training is unclear. When called by theAdvertiser for additional information,
Dallassaid he would have to check with his corporate office to see what he coulddisclose.
A representative from EOG’s corporate office said it iscompany policy not to discuss services provided to clients and referredinquiries to
Auburn’sathletic department. William Walley, the EOG District Manager at Ole Miss, saidhis staff does not perform such responsibilities with the Rebels teams.
The decision to use such aggressive tactics sheds light ontothe level of trust between
Auburn’s coaches andplayers, stemming back even before a game was played by
Auburn (2-7, 0-6 SEC) which is in the midstof its worst football season in 60 years.
The curfew has been a source of frustration for
Auburn football players, many of whom have complained viasocial media, including last week during Halloween. Several tweets by playersfrom that evening have since been deleted.
University president Jay Gogue issued a statement two weeksago saying he shared the concerns of many fans and “the football program willbe evaluated in an objective, thorough and professional process.” Gogue made nomention of
Auburn athletic director JayJacobs, who has been unavailable for comment, or Chizik in his statement.
Chizik is paid $3.5 million annually and is under contractthrough 2015. He has a buyout in his contract which will depreciate to $7.5million on Dec. 1.
The Advertiser asked to speak to Ben Thomas, Auburnfootball’s Director of Player Development, and was told Chizik would answer anyinquiries regarding the policy.
Dismukes has not been available for comment since his arrestand has been requested by the media every week, including twice this week byThe Advertiser.
Source:Montgomery Advertiser
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder