AlbqSooner
3/29/2011, 07:56 PM
By HD Handshoe
CollegeFootballNews.com
Posted Mar 27, 2011
Emails and tattoos and lies, oh my. As many of those who defended the coach suspected (myself included), he did indeed forward the emails. The problem is, he didn’t forward them to anyone at Ohio State.
Until recently, Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel had been given the benefit of the doubt (mostly) by the majority of loyal Buckeye fans. The general thinking inside the Horseshoe was that outsiders who despise Ohio State for its on-field success this past decade under Tressel were on some fruitless witch hunt.
By now, everyone knows the background: several Ohio State players were suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season for selling awards and other personal items for cash and/or discounted or free tattoos.
However, in the last couple of weeks it came to light that coach Tressel had been notified via email in April of 2010 of these goings-on by an outside source, but did not come forward with the information. Tressel claimed that the individual the players were associating with was under investigation by the Federal Government, and that coming forward could jeopardize that investigation, as well as potentially endanger the players involved.
The coach received additional emails from this same source requesting 100% confidentiality, to which he stated he complied, and this was his reasoning for not divulging the info to his boss, A.D. Gene Smith, or Doug Archie, head of the OSU compliance department.
At the press conference OSU held after the story of the emails appeared on Yahoo Sports, Tressel was asked if he forwarded the emails to anyone. It appeared as though the coach said yes before being cut off by Smith, who said there would be no comments on issues regarding the emails as they were part of the pending NCAA investigation.
Fast forward to Friday, March 25th.
As many of those who defended the coach (myself included) and his explanation/reasoning for his actions suspected, he did indeed forward the emails. The problem is, he didn’t forward them to anyone at Ohio State.
Instead, he forwarded them to one Ted Sarniak, a businessman from Terrelle Pryor's hometown of Jeannette, Pa., who Pryor has known for years - in the hope Sarniak could counsel Pryor about the seriousness of the situation.
That's all well and good, but if these emails were going to be forwarded, they certainly also needed to be sent to Smith and/or Archie, not (just) Sarniak.
The recent events at Tennessee involving its basketball program and ultimate dismissal of its head coach Bruce Pearl, who admitted that he lied to NCAA investigators, suggest the NCAA will almost certainly levy further sanctions against coach Tressel and the University.
Given the current circumstances, OSU may have no choice but to seriously consider firing Tressel for cause. Lying to Smith, the compliance department, and the NCAA are major violations. They are inexcusable, even through the best pair of Scarlet-and-Gray glasses.
Nevertheless, there remains a large camp of Buckeye faithful who believe Tressel’s on-field leadership and immense success should be the saving grace that keeps him employed, unlike Pearl.
It is difficult to ignore that Tressel's Buckeye teams have won seven Big Ten titles, one BCS National title, and of course, own a 9-1 mark against that team to the north, that after the 2-10-1 John Cooper years. This doesn't hurt his cause.
But to be clear, while the free or discounted tattoos and the selling of the memorabilia by the players are fairly serious violations, they pale in comparison to the actions of Tressel after the fact.
It now seems clear that Tressel presumed nobody would find out about the situation or blow the whistle, and him sending the emails to what some have called Pryor's "mentor" was an attempt to nip the problem in the bud, rather than to address it and suspend his star QB.
And now the plot takes a new twist… Rumors and speculation that former University of Florida coach Urban Meyer knew this was coming and left the Gators so that he could take over in Columbus have been swirling ever since the Orlando Sentinel ran a story firmly suggesting this would happen.
It’s very possible there is no truth to this speculation. However, Meyer is from Ohio and in the mid-1980's spent two years as a graduate assistant on Earle Bruce’s staff. So it IS possible Meyer would be interested, regardless whether he had early-intel of the soon-to-be publicized Tressel revelations.
At this point, nothing is certain other than that Tressel is in water hot enough to boil a lobster to a slow, agonizing, and screechy death. Could that same fate be in store for Tressel at OSU? Are his days patrolling the Horseshoe in his famous sweater vest nearing their end?
Woody Hayes was fired at Ohio State for letting his emotions get the best of him when he struck an opposing player after an interception, and if you can fire Woody Hayes, surely Jim Tressel is not precluded from getting axed.
Woody was a character and may have done some off-the-wall things in his day, especially when it came to his preparation and disdain for Michigan, but he was never accused of being a liar and a cheater.
Practically every Buckeye football fan wanted to forever live by the motto, "In Tressel We Trust", and they had every reason to believe they always could -- until this.
Now the trust they once had is all but dead, and the man who was well on his way to replacing the still iconic Hayes (despite his transgression) as the greatest coach in Buckeye history could instead be on his way out of Columbus
CollegeFootballNews.com
Posted Mar 27, 2011
Emails and tattoos and lies, oh my. As many of those who defended the coach suspected (myself included), he did indeed forward the emails. The problem is, he didn’t forward them to anyone at Ohio State.
Until recently, Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel had been given the benefit of the doubt (mostly) by the majority of loyal Buckeye fans. The general thinking inside the Horseshoe was that outsiders who despise Ohio State for its on-field success this past decade under Tressel were on some fruitless witch hunt.
By now, everyone knows the background: several Ohio State players were suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season for selling awards and other personal items for cash and/or discounted or free tattoos.
However, in the last couple of weeks it came to light that coach Tressel had been notified via email in April of 2010 of these goings-on by an outside source, but did not come forward with the information. Tressel claimed that the individual the players were associating with was under investigation by the Federal Government, and that coming forward could jeopardize that investigation, as well as potentially endanger the players involved.
The coach received additional emails from this same source requesting 100% confidentiality, to which he stated he complied, and this was his reasoning for not divulging the info to his boss, A.D. Gene Smith, or Doug Archie, head of the OSU compliance department.
At the press conference OSU held after the story of the emails appeared on Yahoo Sports, Tressel was asked if he forwarded the emails to anyone. It appeared as though the coach said yes before being cut off by Smith, who said there would be no comments on issues regarding the emails as they were part of the pending NCAA investigation.
Fast forward to Friday, March 25th.
As many of those who defended the coach (myself included) and his explanation/reasoning for his actions suspected, he did indeed forward the emails. The problem is, he didn’t forward them to anyone at Ohio State.
Instead, he forwarded them to one Ted Sarniak, a businessman from Terrelle Pryor's hometown of Jeannette, Pa., who Pryor has known for years - in the hope Sarniak could counsel Pryor about the seriousness of the situation.
That's all well and good, but if these emails were going to be forwarded, they certainly also needed to be sent to Smith and/or Archie, not (just) Sarniak.
The recent events at Tennessee involving its basketball program and ultimate dismissal of its head coach Bruce Pearl, who admitted that he lied to NCAA investigators, suggest the NCAA will almost certainly levy further sanctions against coach Tressel and the University.
Given the current circumstances, OSU may have no choice but to seriously consider firing Tressel for cause. Lying to Smith, the compliance department, and the NCAA are major violations. They are inexcusable, even through the best pair of Scarlet-and-Gray glasses.
Nevertheless, there remains a large camp of Buckeye faithful who believe Tressel’s on-field leadership and immense success should be the saving grace that keeps him employed, unlike Pearl.
It is difficult to ignore that Tressel's Buckeye teams have won seven Big Ten titles, one BCS National title, and of course, own a 9-1 mark against that team to the north, that after the 2-10-1 John Cooper years. This doesn't hurt his cause.
But to be clear, while the free or discounted tattoos and the selling of the memorabilia by the players are fairly serious violations, they pale in comparison to the actions of Tressel after the fact.
It now seems clear that Tressel presumed nobody would find out about the situation or blow the whistle, and him sending the emails to what some have called Pryor's "mentor" was an attempt to nip the problem in the bud, rather than to address it and suspend his star QB.
And now the plot takes a new twist… Rumors and speculation that former University of Florida coach Urban Meyer knew this was coming and left the Gators so that he could take over in Columbus have been swirling ever since the Orlando Sentinel ran a story firmly suggesting this would happen.
It’s very possible there is no truth to this speculation. However, Meyer is from Ohio and in the mid-1980's spent two years as a graduate assistant on Earle Bruce’s staff. So it IS possible Meyer would be interested, regardless whether he had early-intel of the soon-to-be publicized Tressel revelations.
At this point, nothing is certain other than that Tressel is in water hot enough to boil a lobster to a slow, agonizing, and screechy death. Could that same fate be in store for Tressel at OSU? Are his days patrolling the Horseshoe in his famous sweater vest nearing their end?
Woody Hayes was fired at Ohio State for letting his emotions get the best of him when he struck an opposing player after an interception, and if you can fire Woody Hayes, surely Jim Tressel is not precluded from getting axed.
Woody was a character and may have done some off-the-wall things in his day, especially when it came to his preparation and disdain for Michigan, but he was never accused of being a liar and a cheater.
Practically every Buckeye football fan wanted to forever live by the motto, "In Tressel We Trust", and they had every reason to believe they always could -- until this.
Now the trust they once had is all but dead, and the man who was well on his way to replacing the still iconic Hayes (despite his transgression) as the greatest coach in Buckeye history could instead be on his way out of Columbus