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Bowden tapes resurrect Muse-era controversy
By The Associated Press
AUBURN, AL � Former Auburn coach Terry Bowden said on tape two years ago
that boosters were funneling thousands of dollars to football players when
he became coach in 1993, a time when the Tigers already were on NCAA
probation.
"They were paying players cash, $12,000, $15,000 to sign," Bowden said on a
recording reviewed by The Associated Press. "All I was told to do was shake
hands and say, 'Thank you. I appreciate how much you love Auburn."'
Bowden did not make clear whether he reported the payment scheme to the
NCAA, but said on the tape: "When I came here, I put an end to it."
Bowden's comments were reported Sunday by the Opelika-Auburn News. A
columnist taped the comments in a meeting about two years ago, and a copy of
the tape was made available to AP.
Bowden did not return a phone call by the AP to his home in Orlando, Fla. He
is a sports commentator for ABC Sports, where spokesman Adam Freifield said
Bowden contended the remarks were off the record and had no further comment.
A statement issued by Auburn questioned why remarks made by Bowden in 2001
are only now being reported. The columnist who taped the comments, Paul
Davis, said Tuesday there had been concern that Bowden's remarks were "off
the record" and not for publication. Davis said Bowden has sent him an
e-mail encouraging their publication.
The school's statement also said Bowden repeatedly had certified to the NCAA
from 1993 through 1998 that "he was unaware of any unreported violations of
NCAA rules by anyone involved with the Auburn football program."
William Muse, who was president of Auburn during Bowden's term as coach,
also said in newly released transcripts that he had heard rumors of a
pay-for-play scheme but that it was never verified during the NCAA
investigation. His comments were transcribed by Auburn history professor
Wayne Flynt for a book and were made public recently by university archives.
Mitch Sneed, who became managing editor of the newspaper in February, said
Tuesday he decided to publish Bowden's taped remarks after the recent
release of the Flynt transcripts, which included Muse saying Bowden told him
much the same things that were on the tape.
Muse said he heard there was "a network of alums who each had agreed to
provide X number of dollars per year for a particular player and that there
was a book that listed all of these individuals and the amounts that they
paid."
"There was even a rumor that, at one time, [an assistant coach] was the
keeper of the book," Muse said. "In fact, after he left Auburn, Terry even
told me that. But that has never been verified. In the NCAA investigation,
there didn't turn out to be any evidence of that."
Auburn came under NCAA scrutiny when Pat Dye was head coach. Tapes secretly
recorded by football player Eric Ramsey disclosed financial and other help
being given to Ramsey in violation of NCAA rules.
Dye stepped down after the 1992 season and the NCAA hit Auburn with
penalties that included scholarship reductions, two years of probation and a
one-year ban on television appearances.
Dye, a fund-raiser for Auburn, did not immediately return a telephone
message left at his office Tuesday. NCAA spokeswoman Kay Hawes also didn't
immediately return a phone call for comment.
Bowden resigned as coach during the 1998 season as his relations with a
powerful trustee, Robert Lowder, became strained.
On the tape, Bowden said 25 to 30 boosters would meet in Birmingham and 15
to 20 would meet in Rome, Ga., and that they would give $5,000 each. He said
that when he arrived at Auburn, an assistant coach collected the money.
On the tape, Bowden said he took a stand against the practice. "I'm going to
finish that deal. That's over with," he said he told one of those involved.
Muse, amid his own difficulties with some trustees, left Auburn two years
ago to become chancellor of East Carolina. He resigned that post Friday,
taking a tenured faculty position, in the wake of two critical internal
audits.
02.23.07 10:51 AM
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