You can almost smell the stench of corruption surrounding the Ohio State University football program from here. That corruption cost Coach Jim Tressel his job today, as he was forced to resign as the Buckeyes’ coach today after months of leaks surrounding NCAA violations and unethical conduct on the part of Tressel.
Tressel, who met with coaches and players this morning to announce his resignation, was encouraged to resign, sources told The Dispatch today.
Less than three months after President E. Gordon Gee and Athletic Director Gene Smith said they fully supported their embattled coach, mounting pressure, a pending NCAA disciplinary hearing and new revelations about the culture of the program forced the university to act on their once-revered coach, sources said.
University officials wouldn’t confirm that Tressel was asked to resign. Gee had appointed a special committee within the past month to assess the impact of the football scandal on the university, an indication that Tressel’s departure was in the works for several weeks.
Ohio State’s football program came under fire in December when six players were suspended by the NCAA for selling or trading uniforms and other memorabilia to a Columbus tattoo-parlor owner.
In his resignation letter, Tressel said “the recent situation has been a distraction for our great university and I make this decision for the greater good of our school.”
With all due respect … bullshit! Tressel didn’t make that decision; it was made for him, most likely by influential boosters and donors to the university. He beat it out of town a few steps ahead of the lynch mob. That lynch mob is the NCAA, and its approach was announced by a devastating article in the current issue of Sports Illustrated detailing the history of illegal activity at OSU on Tressel’s watch. All the while, Tressel feigned ignorance. I didn’t know was his defense. Not very Trumanesque, as in “The buck stops here.” More Clintonesque, as in “The buck never even got here.”
This was the fatal part, fatal at least to Tressel’s coaching career:
Then, on March 8, Tressel stood before TV cameras and confirmed a Yahoo report that he had been aware of the memorabilia-for-ink scandal and had not informed Ohio State officials when asked about it in December. Tressel said he had first learned that players were breaking NCAA rules almost a year earlier, in April 2010, when a Columbus lawyer e-mailed him. Rather than alert his superiors, as NCAA regulations require, Tressel said he “couldn’t think” whom to tell. It was later reported that he had told one person, a hometown adviser of Pryor’s. By ignoring his own “little sensor” and failing to be forthcoming, Tressel protected key players from being ruled ineligible for much of the 2010 season, in which the Buckeyes were a popular pick to reach the BCS championship game.
In other words, he lied, doing so to protect critical players for the 2010 season, in which much was expected of the Buckeyes. Ohio State eventually reached the top of the pools before falling on the road at Wisconsin and finished tied with the Badgers and Michigan State for the Big Ten title.
Tressel is probably finished coaching at this level, since whatever sanctions the NCAA hands down will follow him personally, much like Kelvin Sampson, the disgraced former Indiana University men’s basketball coach and Bruce Pearl, who recently was fired as the men’s basketball coach at Tennessee after numerous NCAA violations as well as Pearl’s blatant dishonesty. From the SI article:
Tressel violated NCAA bylaw 10.1 — Unethical Conduct, one of the cornerstones of NCAA rulebook — three times: first by failing to act when tipped off about the tattoo scandal; again last fall, by signing a standard form given to all coaches declaring that he knew of no violations; and then, last December, by not being forthcoming with school officials. Tressel’s violations will almost certainly lead to sanctions that will follow him to any school that might hire him, making it highly unlikely that he will coach a major college program again. Like Woody Hayes, the ruination at the end of his Ohio State career will tail him forever.
It’s highly unlikely that Tressel’s will be the last head at OSU. Expect Athletic Director Gene Smith and possibly President Gordon Gee to be forced out as well, since there clearly wasn’t enough oversight and someone has to be held responsible. Both Smith and Gee publicly supported Tressel even when they discovered he had lied to them.
An observation: I have long been a Jim Tressel fan, having stated on occasion I would have traded the Boy Genius in Madison for Tressel. I will retract that statement for obvious reasons. Bret Bielema has his critics, but at least thus far the Badgers’ program has no traces of this type of corruption.
This season will be interesting in Columbus. Tressel had already been suspended for the first five games; now assistant coach Luke Fickell will serve as the interim coach for the entire season. Already, big names are being tossed about to head up the OSU program in 2012, but that may depend on what punishment the NCAA hands down. The school is hoping throwing Tressel under the bus will be enough, but the SI story hints that a whole closet full of shoes may be dropping on the Ohio State program:
Despite Gene Smith’s insistence to the contrary, the school had a systemic problem and is likely to be hit with heavy sanctions, including the loss of several scholarships.
Ohio State officials will argue that the school should be spared, in part because they got rid of Tressel, the head of the program that has been so tainted by wrongdoing. For years, Ohio State benefited from Tressel’s choirboy image. Now, the university is likely to paint him as a huge problem that has been eliminated for the betterment of the athletic department.
Quarterback Terrelle Pryor, at the heart of the scandal, may be facing his own investigation for misconduct:
The NCAA and the Ohio State University’s compliance office are conducting an independent investigation of Terrelle Pryor amid allegations that the star quarterback may have received cars and other extra benefits, sources told The Dispatch today.
Pryor has been questioned by OSU compliance officials in the past, but sources said this is the most significant inquiry to date. He already has been interviewed at least once by investigators within the past few weeks, sources said.
Pryor and the cars he drives have been an issue since he arrived on campus three years ago. Pryor has been connected to more than a half dozen vehicles during his time at Ohio State, according to sources.
Hoo boy. Apologists will argue that these young men come into this environment thoroughly unprepared for the traps and temptations. Again, bullshit. While they may not have a thorough knowledge of NCAA rules, they do know right from wrong.
There’s a lot of schaudenfrude going around places like Ann Arbor, Mich., and Madison, Wis. tonight. None here. Nothing but disappointment in the downfall of a coach whom I respected and a a program which was always one of the nation’s best.
