JIM TRESSEL HAS RESIGNED!!!!

[trojandave]

I'm a Buckeye fan, and I don't in any way take up for what Tressel did.......he was getting paid 3 million dollars a year to NOT do what he did........yes, he was a great coach for the Buckeyes and has been actively involved in community philanthropy........but his intentions with the email warnings were not honest and forthright........furthermore he SAT on the info and then SIGNED off saying that compliance standards were met. It was too important for him to ignore the possible consequences of which he knew what they were, but that's what he chose to do........and as a result, an overall good person brought his own downfall.

I hope that OSU gives Luke Fickell a fair chance........but I wonder with all the talk about Urban Meyer if the administration will truly back LF.........if LF can muster up 7-9 wins with all the suspensions and pending NCAA penalties, then he will have done a great job as interim coach and should be rehired as the coach for 2012 and beyond. Coach Fickell just might be a better coach than many people think. Unfortunately for him, his audition to be the long term coach at OSU probably couldn't have come at a worse time.

Ohio State football will recover from this........how long it will take only time will tell.

[CLane]

Now, let me add my thoughts to this matter as a WVU fan first and a college football fan second...

I hope that the mainstream media (ESPN, Yahoo, SI etc) and social media outlets are happy. (Sarcasm intended). Sports scribes, who probably were never any good at sports on any level, have become insanely jealous of the athletes, coaches and programs that they cover to the point that they feel it is within their realm to build up individuals, players, coaches etc and then tear them down in the name of "good journalism" as they continously try to uncover the next "Watergate".

It used to be that the reporters covered sports and reported on the outcome of the games. A few trusted reporters were allowed inside access to the lockerrooms, team transportation etc and in return, if they found the athletes doing something they shouldn't, they reported it to the coaches to handle. That is not the case today as we tend to believe everything we read or is reported before there is solid proof. We have become a nation that is quick to try and convict others in an effort to make ourselves feel better about our own shortcomings.

I would also like to offer my congratulations to today's college professors of journalism who teach nothing more than "yellow journalism" in the name of factual reporting.

What went on at Ohio State, and it will continue regardless of who the coach is, happens at almost 100% of the colleges who offer sports, be it NCAA, NAIA, D-1 to D-3. The reason for this is because the trade-off for doing well and getting rewarded for such, starts at the earliest of ages. Even if dad rewards his son with $10 for every TD he scores or homerun he hits or every basketball game he scores 20+ points, the seed is being sown for later and much greater rewards that are outside the rules and expected by most of the athletes that are being recruited. They see nothing wrong with the outside reward system as they have been exposed to it at the earliest stages of their sports playing careers.

AAU sports are littered with shadowy characters that reward players. Many of the same characters are their very coaches who seek a name for themselves via the players that obtain success at the next or highest levels. Clothing companies such as Nike are as guilty as any as they continue to treat these players as whores to sell their products.

What many of the OSU players did was wrong and I know from day 1 they were told as much, but they are too used to the reward based system to stay away from it for very long. Everyone has their hand in the cookie jar. Does that make it right? No, but the NCAA, the school presidents and ADs are just as guilty as the players because they turn a blind eye and hope nobody gets caught on their watch so they can add millions of dollars to their coffers.

Personally, the coaches are overpaid. But, I don't blame them for taking every stinking dollar thay can get from the "man" while they can because the pressure to perform, win games, make sure every player goes to class AND conducts themselves in a professional manner while still being an "amateur" is a 365 a day job. While the university employs dozens, if not a hundred people to keep all the athletes on track, someone, somewhere will step outside the rules and smear innocent people who don't.

Tressell's big mistake, from my viewpoint, is that he ignored the problem for too long in hopes that it would just go away. I am sure that there were problems at YSU when he was there but it was a much smaller problem to manage.

It is my belief that Tressell threw himself on the sword, at OSU's request, so the NCAA will give a much less harsher punishment now that the coach who was "on watch" during this time, is gone. I am sure JT will be well compensated for his sacrifice.

For the Buckeye faithful that laughed at the troubles of Pete Carroll and USC and others, it is your turn to be the fish in the barrell and the people standing over you have their guns loaded. Sit back and take it.

To the colleges that haven't been caught yet, just hope your programs aren't next in the sights of the nation media.

This post is phenomenally accurate and eloquent. I am a biased Buckeye Homer, therefore, I sometimes doubt my thoughts due to that fact. It's nice to see an impartial statement that backs up what I am thinking. I did bash USC at any opportunity and it really can only be explained by petty jealousy....and now I see how their fans felt.

I think the rules are fine where they are at. Pryor will get more $ from a championship ring than Soloman Thomas....and that is why you can't sell your stuff. D1 athletes do not NEED any form of compensation. They WANT extra compensation. The car situation has been going on all the time at all schools big and small. The car situation will continue to go on at all schools big and small.

Very well put schenk11 !!!

Give me a break...."well put"....hahaha.

MNP (most naive post) of the day goes to shenk11!!! Congrats!

If you don't realize that this goes on all the time, EVERYWHERE, you are being very naive and you need to "check yo'self"!

In hindsight, the "paper trail" left by the email was the "smoking gun". Without that, the withholding info and the "lie" would never have been proven/happened. All of this would have been finished with "5" missing the first 5 games next year.....and maybe not even that....????

Even after everything, I still don't think this whole situation is a big deal that could lead to a resignation. It could be my suspect moral compass, but I've lost a lot of respect for ex-Buckeyes in the media, facebook friends, and SEOPS posters. This should have just been a "slap on the wrist."

The Bucks could go 8-4 the next five years and I'd still love 'em! And, I'd continue to hate scUM, make fun of WVU fan's comments for lack of relevance, and "call-out" the frequent bandwagon jumpers. But all that goes back to me being a proud, biased, Buckeye Homer.

[froggy48]

CLame !!!

Get it right! It was very well put not just well put!!!!

[wink]

If you don't realize that this goes on all the time, EVERYWHERE, you are being very naive and you need to "check yo'self"!



But all that goes back to me being a proud, biased, Buckeye Homer.

You can't justify bad behavior by pointing to other bad behavior.

I think either your "suspect moral compass" or your proud, biased, Buckeye Homer is still showing through.

[schenk11]

Very well put schenk11 !!!

Give me a break...."well put"....hahaha.

MNP (most naive post) of the day goes to shenk11!!! Congrats!

If you don't realize that this goes on all the time, EVERYWHERE, you are being very naive and you need to "check yo'self"!

In hindsight, the "paper trail" left by the email was the "smoking gun". Without that, the withholding info and the "lie" would never have been proven/happened. All of this would have been finished with "5" missing the first 5 games next year.....and maybe not even that....????

I never stated that it doesn't go on everywhere, all the time. They are all breaking the rules, don't whine because you got caught. Everyone going 75 mph on I-77 is breaking the law to, the ones that get pulled over need to fess up to getting caught and not complain "I wasn't the only one". We are each blessed with free will, or the ability to choose between right and wrong on an individual basis, regardless of what others do.

The LIE happened when he signed papers saying OSU Football was in compliance with NCAA rules. Having a paper trail did make it or not make it a lie. A lie is a lie, whether you caught or not, or there is proof out there.

From Webster: Definition of LIE
1: an assertion of something known or believed by the speaker to be untrue with intent to deceive

Knowing that the players were breaking rules, and then telling the NCAA they were not is speaking something "untrue with the intent to deceive". That is when it became a lie. Don't put it in quotes like is anything other than a lie.

Part of my unforgiving attitude come from reading "The Winner's Manual" and listening to him talk at several coach's clinics about how to run a morally correct football program and team and him talking about all he has done over the years to teach kids to live life the right way and follow the rules. You can write books, talk at clinics and on TV about being moral and always doing what is right, then turn around, cover up broken rules, then lie about it and have any credibility.

Not many coaches are writing books professing doing it the right way, that is where my criticism comes from.

From the Block O of Life: Goals written by Jim Tressell. Falling under Spiritual and Moral

Above all else, I realize that my spiritual beliefs and my moral values will shape my life. I will do what is right!

Get off you scarlet and gray soapbox, and quit rationalizing it by saying everyone is doing it. He broke the rules, lied about it, and got caught.

[schenk11]

CLane - Did USC deserve just a slap on the wrist too?

They only played with 1 ineligible player, not 5 or maybe even more (ESPN reports possibly 28 players connected to tatoo parlor)

[blueskin]

Jim Tressel was supposed to be different. Buckeye homers have been telling us for years how Tressel is a man of integrity. Now, those same people are saying that "everybody does it". If you are a Buckeye fan, and are now making that claim, at least admit that Tressel is a fraud. You can't have it both ways.

[CLane]

I can totally see where you are coming from, schenk11. You are not wrong...solid explanation that I just can't help myself from scoffing at. (character flaw on my part) When I mention "everyone is doing it", I'm trying downplay the severity of the infraction. I can agree that "he broke the rules, lied about it, and got caught." But I can also honestly say that a 5 game suspension is overkill....a forced resignation is extreme overkill. A punishment should have been given...just not so severe.

Yes, USC's punishment was too severe. Also, AJ Green missing the season was a travesty. The NCAA giving the BCS free reign should be main issue....but that's another story and off topic.

I'm just worried for the future. OSU will be under such high scrutiny that recruits will go to other schools for the simple fact that they will be able to get away with more. Why wouldn't one of the stud athletes want to hang out a cool place that all of their predecessors have been chillin'? They can get some free tats, smoke the doobies, eat some Popeye's, play some PS3, etc....all for some apparel and autographs that they don't have to pay for and have unlimited access to.

I could just tell that Tress was shady...no matter what books he had written. For me, it all boils down to I could care less. I just want tOSU to win.

[mister b]

As stated before, this goes on at all colleges, on all levels, in all sports to some extent and has since before the days of Knute Rockne. To say it doesn't, well, someone just fell off the turnip truck.

SMU football was the last D-1 program that got hit with the death penalty back in 1986 and missed the 1987 season and in 1988 they played only 7 games, all on the road. This was for just 13 players getting paid a total $61,000 from a "slush fund" provided by a booster. SMU served penalities the 2 years prior by setting out bowl games for the same infractions that they later got the death penalty for. Given OSU's relatively clean slate and their self-reporting on other issues, I don't expect them to get what SMU got but I do think that they will be on a very short leash for the next 5 years.

With the ongoing investigations at OSU and their players, I am under the early impression that this will not end with the "tatoo 5" and JT. Car dealers and their "under the table" car leases to players will lead to a "car gate" that will overshadow "tatoo gate". I am guessing that an asst coach or 2 may be shown the door, maybe even Fickell, before this is all said and done. This is going to go very deep in both the OSU and Columbus communities.

JT should have known better that his emails would surface at some point in time. Electronic media is very hard to erase.

While I still think kindly of JT as a coach, I am having a very hard time understanding why OSU President Gee and AD Smith didn't fire him instead of letting him resign as more of this comes to light. It seems to me that those appointed by OSU to investigate this have either done a very poor job and certain facts were not presented to those in command, that being Gee and Smith or both of them thought they could still control this. In that case, the Board of Trustees should ask for their resignations for their "lack of institutional control".

Oh, somebody needs to give TP a heads up that he is being investigated and he needs to ditch the new leased car with dealer plates that he drove up in at the team meeting last night. Great athlete, but he seems to be a little touched in the head. I doubt that he will ever play another down of college football anywhere.

[Bleeding Red]

As stated before, this goes on at all colleges, on all levels, in all sports to some extent and has since before the days of Knute Rockne. To say it doesn't, well, someone just fell off the turnip truck.

SMU football was the last D-1 program that got hit with the death penalty back in 1986 and missed the 1987 season and in 1988 they played only 7 games, all on the road. This was for just 13 players getting paid a total $61,000 from a "slush fund" provided by a booster. SMU served penalities the 2 years prior by setting out bowl games for the same infractions that they later got the death penalty for. Given OSU's relatively clean slate and their self-reporting on other issues, I don't expect them to get what SMU got but I do think that they will be on a very short leash for the next 5 years.

With the ongoing investigations at OSU and their players, I am under the early impression that this will not end with the "tatoo 5" and JT. Car dealers and their "under the table" car leases to players will lead to a "car gate" that will overshadow "tatoo gate". I am guessing that an asst coach or 2 may be shown the door, maybe even Fickell, before this is all said and done. This is going to go very deep in both the OSU and Columbus communities.

JT should have known better that his emails would surface at some point in time. Electronic media is very hard to erase.

While I still think kindly of JT as a coach, I am having a very hard time understanding why OSU President Gee and AD Smith didn't fire him instead of letting him resign as more of this comes to light. It seems to me that those appointed by OSU to investigate this have either done a very poor job and certain facts were not presented to those in command, that being Gee and Smith or both of them thought they could still control this. In that case, the Board of Trustees should ask for their resignations for their "lack of institutional control".

Oh, somebody needs to give TP a heads up that he is being investigated and he needs to ditch the new leased car with dealer plates that he drove up in at the team meeting last night. Great athlete, but he seems to be a little touched in the head. I doubt that he will ever play another down of college football anywhere.

2 Things:

1.) I agree that Tress has long know what was going on, covered it up and hoped it would go away. He has been very instrumental in getting the football program back in the top 10 programs and for that I think he should have been given the chance to resign.....at the end of the day it doesnt matter how he left, but that he left. He deserved the benefit of the doubt to be given the chance of resignation.

2.) All of the cheater players need to be dismissed. OSU has tons of talent that can do it the right way. So what if we lose on or two games this year.......they need to clean house. And Gee and Smith need to be shown the door with them.

[mister b]

Bleeding Red...

You point #1, I can see and won't offer much of an argument other than it COULD look better for OSU when they go before the NCAA infractions committee if they had been more pro-active and fired JT but I agree, the main thing he is gone. His legacy is open for debate and I doubt that he will ever coach again in the college ranks.

As for point #2, OSU does have tons of talent but they still need to recruit and don't think that this won't be used against them on the recruiting trail. I stand by my prediction that another coach or 2, or more OSU folks will fall by the wayside over this before it is all said and done. I also won't argue the point the Gee and Smith should be the first. The audit trail will soon trace it's way back to Smith and "what he knew and when he knew it". As for Gee, he should exit simply for wearing bad ties and being the long lost son of Orville Redenbacher.

[schenk11]

Win at all cost is a slippery slope that has gotten our country in the condition it is today. Be careful with that CLane.

[schenk11]

Oh, and BTW....tOSU and every other school can go on EBay in broad daylight and sell all the game worn memorabilia they can produce WITHOUT SANCTIONS. The players? That's another story.

Those are the rules, right or wrong, and they expected to be followed. If you don't, accept the consequences.

[Tigercannon71]

It boils to down to a few things. First of all the media are hounds and look for anything to bring good people down. So this guy emails Tressel says hey the FBI are investigating this guy for drugs and stuff I think your guys are involved. Here a problem if he tells the university the Media gets wind of it and the FBI case is blown. So now Tressel would be responsible for tipping off a drug dealer that he is about to be busted. So instead he takes lesser of two evils and buries it.
Second lets look at the violations: Do they create and unfair advantage on the field? No. Did the players go to Ohio State because they would get tats? No. Did anybody get money to go to Ohio State? No. Did anybody get a house or their parents get a job to go there? No. Hmm so they sold personal things in order to get money to buy tatoos. Yet ESPN, SI, and all you other morons are making Ohio State and Jim Tressel out to be Capone and his mobsters, but hey they took Capone down for tax evasion. So I guess when you cant find any true dirt you take what you can get blow it out of proprotion and ruin a great mans rep as well as a universities.

This is a witchunt plain and simple. The NCAA, media, and ESPN has a bias against Jim Tressel and Ohio State for some reason and its bull. Thats all I got to say on the matter.

[KVDW]

I go to ball games to watch two teams play, and couldnt care less who they slept with the night before or if they are drunk or any of the other nonsense.

now i understand why you quit preaching you dirty old man. ! :122246

[seofan_via_dublin]

There is a very strong possibility that we've seen the last of Pryor in a Buckeye uniform as well.

From what I've been told, he's all but done!!!

[seofan_via_dublin]

5 star O-Line recruit Kyle Kalis called today to de-commit.

After a 45 minute talk with Head Coach Luke Fickle, he confirmed his desire to be a Buckeye!!!

Welcome aboard Kyle!!!

[Bleeding Red]

PREDICTION: If he is drafted at all in the supplemental draft (if they are allowed to have a supplemental draft this year) as a QB, he will be a bigger bust than Jarmarcus Russell, Ryan Leaf, and Andre Ware combined.

Maybe he should take his talents back to Jeanette and be satisfied with a career in rec league slow pitch softball

Or he could sell cars......he seems to know very well how that process works....

[Bleeding Red]

There is a very strong possibility that we've seen the last of Pryor in a Buckeye uniform as well.

From what I've been told, he's all but done!!!

Good! A mediocre QB at best helped bring down a pretty darn good coach....He needs to go, if for no other reason than to let future buckeyes know this type of garbage won't be tolerated....

I know the rules may be archaic but they are still the rules until changed.....Therefore, they MUST be followed.....By justifying breaking them the Buckeye's are lowering their standards to nothing better than an avg University....I feel they need to elevate their standards, since Tressel is gone, and make examples of all the inkers....See ya later gator........IMO!!

:aaaaa41 :aaaaa41 :aaaaa41 :aaaaa41 :aaaaa41 :aaaaa41 :aaaaa41

I agree 110%. What says to the rest of the team "break the rules and find yourself another path in life" than to ditch Pryor. Talk about a strong statement that NEEDS to be made. And talk about helping their cause with the NCAA death penalty.......

I still cant believe he would show up to the meeting driving another car with dealer tags.....wait.....I heard him talk after several games doing interviews..........yup I can believe it!

Someone who thinks they are above the program and tradition at OSU needs to be kicked in the @ss right back to where they came from, with what they came with (PA with NOTHING!).

[mister b]

It boils to down to a few things. First of all the media are hounds and look for anything to bring good people down. So this guy emails Tressel says hey the FBI are investigating this guy for drugs and stuff I think your guys are involved. Here a problem if he tells the university the Media gets wind of it and the FBI case is blown. So now Tressel would be responsible for tipping off a drug dealer that he is about to be busted. So instead he takes lesser of two evils and buries it.
Second lets look at the violations: Do they create and unfair advantage on the field? No. Did the players go to Ohio State because they would get tats? No. Did anybody get money to go to Ohio State? No. Did anybody get a house or their parents get a job to go there? No. Hmm so they sold personal things in order to get money to buy tatoos. Yet ESPN, SI, and all you other morons are making Ohio State and Jim Tressel out to be Capone and his mobsters, but hey they took Capone down for tax evasion. So I guess when you cant find any true dirt you take what you can get blow it out of proprotion and ruin a great mans rep as well as a universities.

This is a witchunt plain and simple. The NCAA, media, and ESPN has a bias against Jim Tressel and Ohio State for some reason and its bull. Thats all I got to say on the matter.

I agree. A witch hunt by many in the national media and social media groups. However, that comes with the territory of a top 10 program. Somebody is always looking for dirt.

The major problem here is that there appears to be a reoccurring problem with JT back to his days as an asst coach at OSU. He has pleaded ignorance of his players violations at every turn. I really think that he believes that his players will walk the straight line and never wavier while they are at OSU. JT is a learned man. Therefore, I am sure he has heard the old saying..."fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." However, I just don't think that he thought that the players he recuited at OSU were capable of any wrong doings on their own. The point still remains, JT knew about the violations and lied about it to his superiors when questioned. Maybe since the FBI was involved he thought he had to clam up, but I really doubt that he had nowhere to turn or no one to trust. That doesn't say much for his true relationship with the athletic department, AD and president.

I think he clamed up on the matter because it was a formula that worked for him before.

I still think highly of JT for the job he did at returning OSU to a national power.

The Big Ten will be a conference in major flux with the problems at OSU and a new coach at UM. I don't think either school will be able to carry the flag for the Big 10 this season and I certainly don't think any of the other schools can do it either.

As I said before, many of the these players mentioned have been rewarded for their performance from the earliest of ages and see no real problem with accepting "gifts" from "friends of the program" and other characters that lurk in the shadows. This is a mindset that is nearly impossible to break for many of these athletes.