Duke Smith's departure from the Auburn Tigers has raised many questions that may never be answered. There's been no word on EDGE Da'Shawn Womack's arrest in downtown Auburn from several weeks ago from Alex Golesh's program, and there may not be any clarity on what happened with the former 4-star Southside Selma receiver, either.
Smith's exit from the program has vague details surrounding it right now from the top sources at the program. 247Sports' Nathan King shared sparse details about the events leading to Smith's departure.
"Auburn redshirt freshman wide receiver Duke Smith is no longer on the team, an Auburn spokesperson confirmed Tuesday night. Smith has been removed from the Tigers' official roster," King wrote. "A source close to the program told Auburn Undercover that Smith was dismissed for violating team rules.
"A 4-star recruit from Selma in Auburn's 2025 class, Smith and his brother, Erick, were two of four returning receivers from last year's team, joining Bryce Cain and Sam Turner. Duke Smith appeared to take a step forward in a deep receiving corps this past spring and was also involved on kickoffs."
"Violating team rules" is quite the explanation. What rule? Was it multiple? The vague language certainly leaves the door open for plenty of possibilities.
On3's Justin Hokanson, who is as pro-player as a reporter gets, simply quote-tweeted his colleague Bryan Matthews' report on Smith's departure and said "Gone." Something is up there, since, as King notes, Smith was clearly on an upward trajectory.
Smith, a Hugh Freeze recruit, played seven snaps last season in two games and was mostly a special teams player. He did the small things well, recording a 78.4 PFF run-blocking grade, but he was clearly in a developmental phase. That development will not be happening on the Plains.
Simply put, whatever happened doesn't need to break containment. Football locker rooms across the country, including winning ones, have things that many casual fans' ears can't handle. When you play a sport where everyone is in pain all the time, things happen. Tempers flare. Things don't need to escape the locker room, though.
Certianly not this one. AU has had enough drama over the past five years.
The better the job Alex Golesh does, the less you'll hear about locker room issues
Hugh Freeze's locker room issues were hard to ignore, given how bad the product looked on the field on his side of the ball. What really happened between Freeze and Cadillac Williams in the locker room behind the scenes has basically been forgotten about, but it tore the team apart in 2023. How things changed from the first two-thirds of the 2021 season to the 2022 offseason proved something was awry behind the scenes with Bryan Harsin. That was a full-on cultural breakdown during the Boise native's years in charge.
Things were not all hunky dory under Nick Saban, though, either. Far from it. That just wasn't the narrative in Tuscaloosa when the results were so strong. Ditto for Kirby Smart's Georgia Bulldogs locker room in Athens. Those problems are well-documented. They haven't been the vehicle to Smart's demise at UGA.
They won big, though. Their college towns and the states surrounding those towns idolize them. They were/are given a pass for that. Is that correct morally? No, but this is college football. Those at the top aren't concerning themselves with matters like "morality."
Golesh is handling matters in ways he sees fit. If the results follow, you are going to know less about what's really going on behind the scenes. And you may be better off for it.
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