04/20/24
May 30, 2011
Jim Tressel Resigns : Less than three months after President E. Gordon Gee and A. D. 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. 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. The NCAA also drew criticism for allowing the players to participate in the Sugar Bowl instead of serving their suspensions immediately.
posted by tommytrump to football at 09:49 AM - 21 comments
Wow. Say what you will about the Sweater Vest (not a fan, personally), but he restored that program to prominence and they had a great run (BCS bowl game record notwithstanding). This should have happened a while back, though, and the blemish and stink on the program has only become more pronounced because of the way this has played out.
posted by holden at 10:50 AM on May 30, 2011
Apparently, there is a Sports Illustrated article originally slated to come out for tomorrow (that has now been pushed up to some point later today) that helped force this outcome.
posted by holden at 11:06 AM on May 30, 2011
Rich Rod is currently experiencing schweaterfreude, no doubt.
posted by beaverboard at 11:29 AM on May 30, 2011
Apparently, there is a Sports Illustrated...that helped force this outcome.
Actually, wasn't it Jim Tressel who "helped force this outcome" by lying to the NCAA in the first place?
Mr. Boys II Men Sweater Vest only go himself to blame.
posted by BornIcon at 12:08 PM on May 30, 2011
Unfortunately, these means that Tressel will most likely be taking the rap, rather than the program as a whole. Here's an interesting article from SI that argues that very point.
This isn't to say that I think Tressel should stay, as he deserved to be let go. But his resignation/firing might cloud the ensuing NCAA ruling.
posted by Goyoucolts at 12:24 PM on May 30, 2011
BCS bowl game record notwithstanding
What's wrong with 6-3? Understood, the back to back losses in the championship game were high profile and lopsided, but 6-3 isn't something that should detract from Tressel's on-field legacy.
posted by tahoemoj at 12:33 PM on May 30, 2011
tahoemoj -- good point. I really was thinking about the Championship Game losses. Plus, the one they won, they should not have (not that it really matters, as the records reflect that OSU won that game against Miami).
And BornIcon, obviously this is a mess of Tressel's own making; the point (which I'm sure you got) is that this impending story helped hasten his exit. put the final nail in the coffin, etc.
posted by holden at 12:38 PM on May 30, 2011
Wonder if any alumni who paid for a picture with the top of his head will ask for a refund? Probably not.
posted by graymatters at 01:25 PM on May 30, 2011
Coaches never keep their job after failing to disclose a major rules violation promptly. Tressel waited eight months. I was surprised that he lasted as long as he did before Ohio State finally fired him.
posted by rcade at 06:01 PM on May 30, 2011
posted by rcade at 06:04 PM on May 30, 2011
Sounds to me like Ohio State has thrown Tressel out of the sleigh, hoping that the wolves (NCAA) devour him and let OSU's program escape. I cannot believe, despite Tressel's denials, that the school administration was entirely in the dark about what was going on. I hope that the NCAA unloads both barrels at OSU, if only to let all of the others who do this know that they cold be next.
posted by Howard_T at 07:56 PM on May 30, 2011
Sorry, we no longer carry this item.
posted by tommybiden at 08:01 PM on May 30, 2011
RZeally the main problem was the cover up. I think they were ok with the crime. As more and more came out though, It made the initial crime look far far worse.
posted by Debo270 at 09:03 AM on May 31, 2011
Sounds to me like Ohio State has thrown Tressel out of the sleigh, hoping that the wolves (NCAA) devour him
Totally off-topic, but is this a reference to one of the Flashman novels or is was that a common move back in the days of sleigh transportation?
posted by yerfatma at 10:59 AM on May 31, 2011
I think the expression "to throw someone out of the sleigh" goes waaaay back. Think about it: winter, woods, dark, wolves closing in...you'll make it to safety if you can slow the wolves down for just a couple of minutes...
posted by lil_brown_bat at 12:43 PM on May 31, 2011
The book, My Antonia, has a great story about that very thing. The wolves closing in on a bridal party. Still, I've never heard that particular phrase either.
posted by bperk at 02:54 PM on May 31, 2011
...thrown Tressel out of the sleigh...
I think I read it somewhere in a story about Czarist Russia. The wolves would go after the horses, hamstringing them, which would stop the sleigh. Even if the wolves didn't get you, your chances of surviving a Russian winter on the steppes would be pretty slim. Thus, you would sacrifice someone (preferably a peasant) for the wolves to devour and lose interest in the horses.
posted by Howard_T at 03:26 PM on May 31, 2011
I'll try to end my stupid derail by heartily recommending Flashman at the Charge to anyone without a conscience:
Powered by fear and flatulence, he reaches the Russian guns in front of the other surviving members of the charge and promptly surrenders
posted by yerfatma at 03:55 PM on May 31, 2011
From the new Sports Illustrated story that reportedly helped force his ouster.
Tressel was forced out three days after Sports Illustrated alerted Ohio State officials that the wrongdoing by Tressel's players was far more widespread than had been reported. SI learned that the memorabilia-for-tattoos violations actually stretched back to 2002, Tressel's second season at Ohio State, and involved at least 28 players -- 22 more than the university has acknowledged. Those numbers include, beyond the six suspended players, an additional nine current players as well as nine former players whose alleged wrongdoing might fall within the NCAA's four-year statute of limitations on violations.Love of tatts did him in.
posted by rcade at 04:58 PM on May 31, 2011
I was intrigued by the Tressel story when it went up on the SI site last night. Disturbing portrait of Tressel in that it reads more like a clinical behavioral case study than an expose of an ambition-driven subverter of NCAA rules and regs who thought he could get away with some shifty business.
He seems closer to a defrocked clergyman than he does to other ruined coaches like Kelvin Sampson. Writing those books and playing the standup role all the while systematically ignoring or suppressing any sense of moral compass away from the public eye. The pieces fit seamlessly, without apparent conflict.
I don't get that he's anywhere close to realistically confronting his issues.
Seems like OSU knew that they were hiring, if not damaged goods, then at least questionable goods when they brought Tressel in 10 years ago.
Not every week that the SI cover jinx is revved up to the point where the cover subject falls into the rock pit before the issue even hits the stands.
posted by beaverboard at 06:42 PM on May 31, 2011
Talk abut a meteoric fall!