They were all warned.

Auburn President Jay Gogue. Some Auburn trustees. Former Auburn coach Pat Dye.

Long before Alabama 49, Auburn 0, official and unofficial Auburn power brokers were told during the past off-season that Gene Chizik’s football program was coming apart at the seams.

Some of the problems, like a number of arrests and behavior issues, were public and obvious. Others were readily apparent only to insiders, and several of them spoke to al.com on condition of anonymity.

Some players weren’t going to class. Others weren’t working out. What should have been mandatory workouts became optional, and the authority of head strength and conditioning coach Kevin Yoxall was severely undermined.

Chizik was informed of at least some of the issues, and he raised the academic issue with his assistant coaches at one point, but did the head coach really follow through or was he sending mixed signals?