AP Long before Pat Dye was leading Auburn to SEC Championships, Top-Ten finishes and moving Auburn’s home game in the Iron Bowl to its real home on the Plains, he was leading the charge in the SEC to drug test student-athletes.
Auburn SEC’s first to begin drug testing
August 22, 1983 — Associated Press.Auburn University football players who returned to campus on Saturday had to have blood and urine tests for drugs, confirms Coach Pat Dye.
Auburn, a preseason favorite to win the Southeastern Conference championship, was the first SEC school to require such testing. The SEC doesn’t have a league policy on drug testing, leaving each member school to make its own policy.
Dye, who wrote to players and their parents to let them know the tests would be made, said they were done as part of the required medical checkups for players. He said there’s no widespread drug problem at Auburn.
“But even if you’ve got one kid, you’ve got a problem,’ he said. “If I had to guess, I’d say Auburn has the least problem of anybody in the SEC because of its setting and environment. But I’m not naive enough to think some youngsters haven’t experimented with drugs. We will test the players, and I think you’ll find most teams will be doing the same thing.”
This technically means it’s entirely possible that Auburn offensive tackle Jay Jacobs was the first SEC football player ever to have been drug tested.
Follow Kevin on Twitter: @AU_History
Related: Jay Jacobs’ ‘open letter to the Auburn Family’ regarding ESPN ‘spice’ story.
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