Former Duke AD blasts Auburn for 'political dysfunction' after Allen Greene ouster

Former Duke athletic director Kevin White did not mince words in a statement regarding Allen Greene’s ouster on Friday as Auburn’s athletic director. While Greene appears to have voluntarily resigned, he did so with just five months remaining on his original five-year contract, which had not been extended or renewed.

In a statement shared by ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Twitter, White laid in to Auburn for what he thought was a “shameful” and “disturbing” move.

“For what it’s worth, the announcement via Auburn University today is terribly disturbing to say the very least, perhaps closer to utterly shameful! The apparent political dysfunction within Auburn is truly legendary. More specifically, this particular leadership transition, unequivocally, ascends Auburn to the ‘cat bird’ seat, in terms of being ‘tone deaf,’ nationally. Of course, Allen and Christy Greene, and their beautiful family, will undoubtedly take the high road, for Allen is among the classiest and most talented individuals, in terms of emotional, intellectual, and decency competence, who drips with integrity, while standing on a non-negotiable, moral and ethical (everyday) platform.”

Former Duke AD Kevin White releases a statement on Auburn AD Allen Greene’s ouster. Uses the terms “terribly disturbing,” “utterly shameful” and calls Auburn’s out Auburn’s “political dysfunction” as “truly legendary.” pic.twitter.com/f5j6zAcLH6

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 26, 2022

White’s statement continued, lamenting what this move might signal for the future of college sports.

“Allen is clearly a ‘rockstar’ leader within the broader college athletics landscape! Therefore, this is clearly a ‘death blow’ moment, as the greater enterprise of college athletics swirls via unprecedented chaos,” White said. (The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach added on Twitter that the version of the statement White released was apparently toned down from the original copy.)

Greene — who served in the role since 2018 — and former Auburn president Jay Gogue were two of the biggest supporters of head football coach Bryan Harsin as there was an apparently concerted effort to replace him following a lackluster first season. Gogue had previously moved on and has been replaced by Christopher Roberts, who started on the job very recently.

Now with Greene gone it’s unclear who, if anyone, in the Auburn athletic department would go to bat for Harsin — and have enough cache for it to make a difference.

Auburn named chief operating officer Marcy Girton as interim athletic director until a national search can be completed to hire a full-time replacement.