Jimmy Rane, one of the most prominent Auburn boosters, was one name mentioned regularly during the Bryan Harsin saga from several months ago.

But Rane on Thursday claimed to have had no role in the internal probe that almost got Harsin fired after his first season, or in future decisions. Rane tried to clarify Auburn’s seemingly well-known reputation for booster involvement in athletics personnel decisions.

“Trustees don’t hire and fire football coaches. We hire and fire presidents. So I’m not aware of any role the trustees played in that at all,” Rane told the Montgomery Advertiser before his foundation’s annual charity golf event kicked off with a banquet Thursday night in downtown Montgomery. “I think there were questions that the administration had, and (former Auburn president Jay Gogue) is the kind of a president that wants facts. He’s going to do thorough investigations. And so that was a providence of the administration. Certainly not the trustees.”

Rane doesn’t agree with the general perception of Auburn boosters, that they’re more involved than the average school with high-profile coach hiring and firing.

“I don’t know how to help people with their perception,” he said. “All I know is facts. And there’s enough rumor out there that people can make up anything they want to make up, but facts speak for themselves, and that’s just how things are done.”