Sports

Auburn disputes scathing reports of cover-ups, grade changes and payments from 2010 title run

Associated Press
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Former Auburn safety Mike McNeil, center, who is charged with armed robbery, arrives for a court appearance on Thursday, April 4, 2013, in Opelika, Ala. (AP Photo/AL.com, Julie Bennett) MAGAZINES OUT (The Associated Press)

Former Auburn football player Mike McNeil, who is charged with armed robbery, appears for a court hearing Thursday, April 4, 2013 in Opelika, Ala. (AP Photo/Opelika-Auburn News, Albert Cesare, Pool) (The Associated Press)

Auburn is back on the defensive amid allegations of wrongdoing dating to the 2010 national championship season.

Two reports surfaced this week accusing the athletic department of misdeeds ranging from covering up widespread use of synthetic marijuana among football players to grade-changing and illicit payments.

Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs and other officials have disputed the findings in both reports, which painted a bleak picture of a department and football program that weathered an NCAA investigation into the recruitment of Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Cam Newton through much of the title run.

Jacobs dismissed allegations made in an ESPN report that the school covered up use of synthetic marijuana as "baseless and inaccurate." Former football coach Gene Chizik said an earlier report on roopstigo.com was "short on facts and logic."