Jim Tressel stepping down? Fired?

[Sportsbuck]

The OSU administration didn't muck up shit... lets be clear here, this is all on Tressel. He could've been smart and gone to talk to the OSU legal counsel (Therefore attorney-client privlidge would apply and the confidentiality of the investigation would still be in effect), but he was really just looking to sweep this under the rug IMO.

Tressel allowed his players to take "oral exams" in order to pass their classes. This is even worse than blaming Memphis for "allowing" Derrick Rose to allegedly have someone else take his SAT. At least with Rose, there is some record and some paper trail to fall back on. With Tressel/Ohio State's oral exam system, we have nothing.

Cut the crap Senser. Tressel didn't allow his players to do shit, it was the professor that decided that Clarett would be taking an oral exam. Clarett tried to accuse Tressel of allowing this to happen systemwide, and not only did a University panel of academics find his accusations to be false, so did a third party investigation as well.

Ohio State can't provide evidence that players even took their exams or ever showed up for class.

For every class at OSU that has an athlete in it, the prof is required to take attendance on an attendance sheet that is submitted to the athletic department at the end of the day, and the athlete must be in class. And when guys have missed class, they haven't played... such as Ray Small for example. My Sociology 101 class last quarter had 7 football players in it, and none of them missed a single day of class. So yes, there is documentation that players went to class.

No documentation that players took their exams? We had three players declared ineligible for the Rose Bowl last year because they failed their exams. Marcus Hall was declared ineligible for the 2010 season because his exams killed his grades.

Tressel was slime at Youngstown State, and he's slime at Ohio State. Nothing new.

Wow, a college coach is a slimeball, what a surprise. This is a professional full of slimeballs.

[Sportsbuck]

\LOL at OSU giving him 2 games anyways, allowing him to come back for the game against Miami. Really? Like they thought they were being clever about it?

Just like Troy Smith conveniently missing a bowl game that we blew the other team out in and a season opener against Miami (OH) and then coming back against #2 Texas in 2005.

[Sportsbuck]

Its funny how UNC's football program is nearly shut down because some players sold memorabilia to a guy claiming to be an agent (and really, who couldn't claim to be an agent?), but OSU's players are selling memorabilia to a criminal and no one says boo.

UNC's players received benefits such as plane trips being paid for, improper gifts from boosters and agents, as well as severe academic misconduct occuring within the athletic department.

Gordon Gee should be removed from office based on how he has mishandled this.

Senser, I get it. You hate Gordon Gee.

[dope]

SPORTSbyBROOKS Documents: Read The Actual Jim Tressel Emails

Ouch for Tressel.

why do i get the feeling the "no surprise here" comments are about maurice clarett

[ralaw]

Scandal tarnishes Tressel, Ohio State

"The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour."

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel included that Japanese proverb on Page 193 of his book, "The Winners Manual For The Game of Life."

Eight pages later, there's this nugget from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: "It takes less time to do the right thing than to explain why you did it wrong."
In 10 years as the Buckeyes' coach, Tressel has often showed us his teams can't win big games.

On Tuesday night, Tressel showed us he can't win the big news conferences, either.

Tressel, who has guided the Buckeyes to seven Big Ten titles and the 2002 BCS national championship, wanted us to believe that he was different from other successful head coaches.

From his character-based books to his conservative sweater vests, Tressel wanted us to believe that he's a straight shooter who follows the rules.

On Tuesday night, we learned Tressel isn't any different from a lot of coaches in college football. He's apparently more concerned about winning games and championships than following rules and doing things the right way.

In fact, Tressel might be even worse than other coaches who are corrupting college athletics. He won't admit he's wrong even after he has been caught.

Facing the biggest crisis of his career, Tressel never once apologized for knowingly breaking NCAA rules during a news conference on the Ohio State campus on Tuesday night. Worse, Tressel never owned up to not telling his bosses or NCAA investigators that he was aware that at least two of his players might have accepted improper benefits from the owner of a tattoo parlor in Columbus, Ohio.

When Tressel was asked if he was worried the scandal would tarnish his reputation, he said he's always been his biggest critic.

"I don't think less of myself at this moment," Tressel said.

How's that for looking in the mirror?

Ohio State officials say Tressel broke NCAA rules because he didn't tell athletics director Gene Smith or the school's compliance office about e-mails he received from an attorney in April 2010, which indicated Buckeyes players were receiving improper benefits.

Tressel never even mentioned the e-mails nine months later, when in December the NCAA suspended five Ohio State players, including star quarterback Terrelle Pryor, for the first five games of the 2011 season for selling memorabilia and awards from the tattoo parlor owner.

Tressel's punishment? Ohio State suspended him for the first two games of the upcoming season and fined him $250,000.

I'm guessing the already short-handed Buckeyes will be able to survive home games against Akron and Toledo without their coach, and I'm sure Tressel will make due with the rest of his $3.5 million annual salary.

As bad as Tressel looks in college football's latest scandal, Ohio State looks even worse. The school that has long prided itself on academic and athletic excellence looks no different than the football factories it has long looked down its nose at.

The NCAA might impose further sanctions against Tressel and Ohio State, but it's clear the school won't hold Tressel accountable for his actions.

Ohio State president E. Gordon Gee said he never considered firing Tressel.

"No, are you kidding me?" Gee said. "Let me be very clear. I'm just hoping the coach doesn't dismiss me."

Smith was equally as supportive.

"Wherever we end up at the end of the day, Jim Tressel is our football coach," Smith said. "All the speculation about him being terminated is pure speculation. This case, in my view, does not warrant it."


Tressel already hoodwinked the NCAA into allowing Pryor and the other suspended players to participate in the the Allstate Sugar Bowl, instead of starting their five-game suspensions immediately. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany even went to bat for the suspended OSU five.

Without them, the Buckeyes probably didn't stand a chance against Arkansas. With them, the Buckeyes won a 31-26 thriller.

After nine straight losses, the Buckeyes finally beat an SEC school. Apparently, Tressel even learned to cheat as well as they do.

If you believe Tressel, he never spoke up because he was asked to keep the information confidential by the attorney who e-mailed him. Tressel also said he didn't want to jeopardize an ongoing federal drug trafficking case related to the tattoo parlor.

"It was obviously tremendously concerning," Tressel said. "Quite honestly, I was scared."

But Tressel wasn't scared enough to tell his bosses about the problem. Worse, he never sat down players who were receiving illegal benefits from a man at the center of a federal drug case.

"If you all of the sudden sit down some players who have earned the opportunity to play, there are a whole set of new questions which are going to be asked," Tressel said.

Tressel is not only guilty of concealing potential NCAA rules violations, but he's apparently also guilty of misleading his own school's compliance officials.

According to the report, OSU officials interviewed the suspended Buckeyes players on Dec. 16. After those interviews, Tressel was asked if he had been contacted or knew anything about the tattoo parlor. The report says Tressel admitted "he had received a tip about general rumors pertaining to a certain [number] of his players, [but] that information had not been specific, and it pertained to their off-field choices."

Tressel committed two of college athletics' cardinal sins: covering up a scandal and then misleading investigators.

Ohio State could have easily terminated Tressel under the terms of his contract.

Instead, OSU's message was clear: Keep beating Michigan and winning Big Ten championships, and we've got your back.

For the record, Michigan's football team hasn't beaten Ohio State in 2,663 days.

But the Wolverines won on Tuesday.

At least they had fired their cheating coach.


Mark Schlabach covers college sports for ESPN.com. You can contact him at schlabachma@yahoo.com.

Jim Tressel, Ohio State reputations tarnished in scandal - ESPN

[FirstTimer]

The OSU administration didn't muck up shit... lets be clear here, this is all on Tressel. He could've been smart and gone to talk to the OSU legal counsel (Therefore attorney-client privlidge would apply and the confidentiality of the investigation would still be in effect), but he was really just looking to sweep this under the rug IMO.

Cut the crap Senser. Tressel didn't allow his players to do shit, it was the professor that decided that Clarett would be taking an oral exam. Clarett tried to accuse Tressel of allowing this to happen systemwide, and not only did a University panel of academics find his accusations to be false, so did a third party investigation as well.

For every class at OSU that has an athlete in it, the prof is required to take attendance on an attendance sheet that is submitted to the athletic department at the end of the day, and the athlete must be in class. And when guys have missed class, they haven't played... such as Ray Small for example. My Sociology 101 class last quarter had 7 football players in it, and none of them missed a single day of class. So yes, there is documentation that players went to class.

No documentation that players took their exams? We had three players declared ineligible for the Rose Bowl last year because they failed their exams. Marcus Hall was declared ineligible for the 2010 season because his exams killed his grades.

Wow, a college coach is a slimeball, what a surprise. This is a professional full of slimeballs.

I have a hard time believing Tressel got these emails and reports and OSU adminsitration wasn't notified or knew about it.

why do i get the feeling the "no surprise here" comments are about maurice clarett

My first guess was Pryor

[Senser81]

The OSU administration didn't muck up shit... lets be clear here, this is all on Tressel. He could've been smart and gone to talk to the OSU legal counsel (Therefore attorney-client privlidge would apply and the confidentiality of the investigation would still be in effect), but he was really just looking to sweep this under the rug IMO.

Really?? He was just looking to sweep this under the rug??? What gave you that idea? And we should praise Tressel for "not going to legal counsel"?! Why? Would "legal counsel" have somehow made this go away?

The OSU administration mucked up shit in their response to the situation. How else could they have mucked up shit? The issue is that Tressel kept his mouth shut and never told the administration anything. Of course that part is all on Tressel. But OSU's response is laughable. In the midst of yet another John Cooper/Jim O'Brien type scandal, president Gordon Gee actually says "Fire Tressel? No, I am hoping Tressel doesn't fire me!" WTF is going on? Is that supposed to "defuse" the situation? And to suspend Tressel for 2 meaningless non-conference games is a joke.

No documentation that players took their exams? We had three players declared ineligible for the Rose Bowl last year because they failed their exams. Marcus Hall was declared ineligible for the 2010 season because his exams killed his grades.

And they also had 5 other players who should have been suspended yet still played in the Rose Bowl.

Even now, neither Tressel nor Gee have given any admission of guilt, any apology, anything other than Tressel's outright lies and Gee's outright abominable sound-bites.

[Senser81]

My first guess was Pryor

My first guess was Sportsbuck.

[dope]

My first guess was Pryor

well the reason i said maurice is that one of the things sold was a national championship ring so that would rule out pryor

[FirstTimer]

well the reason i said maurice is that one of the things sold was a national championship ring so that would rule out pryor

Well the first one said (about the B10CR)(not a surprise here)

Thent he next bullet point said(about the NCCR) (not a surprise here either)

I took those to mean two different players.

[strahanfan92]

Brian Baldinger just said on the radio show that his sources tell him that Tressel will not be the head coach by the end of the day. Take that for what it's worth. He's adamant that his sources are correct.

[EmpireWF]

Brian Baldinger just said on the radio show that his sources tell him that Tressel will not be the head coach by the end of the day. Take that for what it's worth. He's adamant that his sources are correct.

Michigan fans have to be crying with joy if this happens.

[Bigpapa42]

So apparently he's sorry that he blatantly violated the rules. Its okay now. Everything is good here now.

[Woy]

Michigan fans have to be crying with joy if this happens.

They'll still find a way to lose to Ohio State even if the Buckeyes get the death penalty.

[ram29jackson]

LOL nothing is happening to Tressel, he is still the coach