Jovon Robinson has been dismissed from the Auburn team. Photo Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn on Wednesday dismissed the team’s top returning rusher from last season, running back Jovon Robinson.
Malzahn announced the dismissal before the Tigers’ first practice of preseason, saying Robinson did not meet his standards for an Auburn player. The coach did not elaborate.
“There’s going to be no distractions,” Malzahn said.
Senior wide receiver Marcus Davis told AL.com that the players were not told why Robinson was dismissed, and he is not personally aware of why it was done.
Robinson ran for 639 yards last season, with all but 20 of those yards coming in the final six games of the season. He was atop the depth chart at running back heading into camp.
Peyton Barber, the Tigers’ leading rusher last season, left college early to enter the NFL draft, and No. 3 runner Roc Thomas transferred to Jacksonville State, a Football Championship Subdivision school.
Auburn, which went 7-6 last season, added former Baylor signee Kam Martin this summer after he was granted a release from his scholarship.
According to AL.com, Robinson enrolled at Auburn in 2012 but problems with his academic record led him to be declared ineligible. He wound up at Georgia Military College for two seasons, then came back to Auburn in December 2014.
Robinson has one year of college eligibility remaining. He was the Most Valuable Player of the Birmingham Bowl in December, a 31-10 Auburn win over Memphis. Robinson amassed 126 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries.
