Alex Golesh wants nothing to do with the David Jenrath mess. The former Auburn personnel scouting assistant was booked Monday on two Class C felony charges, theft of trade secrets and computer tampering, after allegedly sharing information tied to the Tigers’ recruiting operation. That is the kind of scandal that can quickly swallow a program’s week, but Golesh is refusing to let it happen. When asked about Jenrath on Wednesday, the Auburn coach practically shut the door on the entire controversy.

“Literally no reaction,” Alex Golesh said, via Auburn Tigers | AL.com. “Taylor mentioned it, literally, and this ain’t coach talk. Couldn’t care less, focus is on Tennessee. And that’s a challenge to our team too, right? Can we just be focused on what the heck’s important? And like I talked about Monday, it truly is focus on Tennessee, let’s ride. I shouldn’t say I couldn’t care less, I hadn’t thought about it one second.”

That was Golesh’s message in a nutshell. He does not want Jenrath’s legal mess becoming Auburn’s problem, especially with Tennessee waiting at Neyland Stadium. But this is not some harmless side story either. Recruiting information is sensitive, and once it allegedly leaves the building, the questions get much bigger.

Jenrath reportedly worked at Auburn from January through June 2026 as a player personnel scouting assistant, helping with running backs, special teams, and recruiting. He was also reportedly kept on from the previous staff after Golesh arrived, which makes the situation even harder for Auburn to completely brush aside.

According to reports, Auburn dismissed Jenrath in June after he allegedly lied about being ill to get time away from work and was later seen in the student section at an Auburn baseball game. But what followed was far more serious.

Charging documents allege that Jenrath retained confidential Auburn Athletics information and transmitted it without authorization. The case does not involve Auburn’s entire football operation. According to ESPN, the material allegedly centered on recruiting evaluations, while NIL deals, revenue-sharing details, and playbooks were reportedly not included.

Court documents further allege that an email account using the name “DonJulio198787@gmail.com” sent 12 attachments containing confidential Auburn athletics information to Alex Golesh’s Auburn email address. Ten of those documents reportedly contained personnel information on Auburn’s recruiting targets. The email reportedly listed 85 recipient addresses, including people connected to rival football programs, though the reports have not identified which schools allegedly received the material.

According to CBS Sports, one of Auburn’s competitors that received the alleged information turned it over to the university. Police then investigated the anonymous emails for at least two months before identifying Jenrath as the alleged source.

That shifted the concern from simply who sent the information to how widely Auburn’s recruiting material may have circulated and whether any of it could still affect the program. Golesh, however, said Auburn had already reviewed the situation and believed its safeguards were in place.

“When the original situation came up, obviously had to make sure we dotted our I’s and crossed our T’s,” he said. “But we have it in place; there’s nothing that I feel is gonna affect anything in terms of how it got out.”

That explains why Golesh is not treating the case as an ongoing football crisis. Auburn believes the necessary protections are already in place, while the legal process surrounding Jenrath continues separately.

Jenrath, who lives in Franklin, Tennessee, went to Auburn police on his own Monday and was booked into the Lee County Jail with his bond set at $15,000.

The University of Tennessee has also been pulled into the story because of Jenrath’s educational background. Reports indicate he enrolled there for the fall semester in an applied artificial intelligence program, but he did not work in Tennessee’s athletic department.

For Golesh, that distinction matters because Tennessee is now Auburn’s immediate concern for an entirely different reason. The Tigers are headed to Neyland Stadium, and he has made it clear that whatever happens next in Jenrath’s case will not become the focus inside Auburn’s football building.