AUBURN, Ala. — Domestic violence has developed into a national issue in the past month, with the arrests of multiple NFL players placing the sordid subject under a microscope from the media and the general public alike.
The topic was broached at Gus Malzahn's weekly press conference Tuesday, when Auburn's coach was asked whether he has a zero-tolerance policy in place for domestic violence.
"There’s no doubt about that," he said. "I would expect that most programs around the country have that."
The same goes for any prospective recruit with a documented history of domestic violence.
"There’s no doubt," said Malzahn, who due to NCAA rules is not permitted to comment on specific recruits. "You don’t go there."
Except at the moment, the Tigers are recruiting — according to AuburnUndercover.com — a player that was arrested on a felony aggravated assault/family violence charge in July. That player is former Georgia defensive lineman Jonathan Taylor. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Taylor was arrested after police found evidence he had assaulted his girlfriend during a domestic dispute in a Georgia residence hall room. The evidence and witness accounts allege Taylor "choked" and "struck with a closed fist" the victim.
Following his arrest, he posted $5,000 and was dismissed from the Bulldogs hours later. In addition to his aggravated assault/family violence charge, Taylor was also one of four Georgia players arrested in March on misdemeanor theft charges. In that incident, Taylor was charged with two counts of theft by deception for attempting to cash the same check twice.
One of the other players charged in that episode was Tray Matthews, who was dismissed from Georgia in June and transferred to Auburn later that month.
