Three members of the 2008 signing class are off the Auburn football team and will not return, associate athletic director of media relations Kirk Sampson confirmed Thursday.
It is uncertain whether linebacker/safety Marcus Jemison, defensive lineman JoMarcus Savage and sophomore safety Christian Thompson were kicked off the team or left on their own accord — just that they are gone.
Coach Gene Chizik was on vacation and unavailable for comment.
The Tigers did not lose any proven regulars — or even potential starters — among the group, but their departures will certainly affect depth at positions that were already short on bodies.
Jemison, a redshirt freshman from McCalla, missed all of the 2008 season after suffering a broken leg and dislocated ankle in a fall practice scrum. He said this spring he contemplated quitting the team once or twice because of the circumstances, which were amplified when his mother, who is afflicted with cancer, came down with a bad case of pneumonia.
“I was down for a long time,” Jemison said in April. “Probably about two months before I actually came back to my normal self.”
Because of depth concerns, Jemison was moved from safety to linebacker this spring, but was still considered to be a second- or third-teamer.
Savage, a Huntsville native, had shoulder surgery in September and did not see the field in 2008. He nursed that shoulder throughout spring practice and was considered to be low on the depth chart.
Thompson, from St. Thomas-Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., played sparingly in 2008 as a true freshman, recording one tackle. He received plenty of action this spring, though, with starters Zac Etheridge and Mike McNeil nursing injuries for the majority of camp.
Safeties coach Tommy Thigpen said Thompson was probably the “best tackler” among his safeties.
Auburn is now without five players from the 2008 class. Junior-college transfer Raven Gray left for Delta State in January while cornerback Ryan Williams left for Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Wesson, Miss., shortly after Gene Chizik was hired.
Linebacker Tray Blackmon and wide receiver Chris Slaughter also left the team in January.
agribble@oanow.com | 737-2561
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