Jim Tressel Out at Ohio State

Lil Pun · 05-30-2011, 08:03 AM

Breaking news on ESPN.com. Link to cone when available.

J.R. · 05-30-2011, 08:39 AM

-Link-

Quote:

Embattled coach Jim Tressel has resigned from Ohio State.

"After meeting with university officials, we agreed that it is in the best interest of Ohio State that I resign as head football coach," Tressel said in a statement Monday morning. "The appreciation that Ellen and I have for the Buckeye Nation is immeasurable."

Assistant coach Luke Fickell, who had been named to fill in for Tressel during the first five games of the 2011 season in which he was to be suspended, will take over as the interim head coach, Ohio State said in the news release.

School president E. Gordon Gee announced Tressel's departure in a letter sent to Ohio State trustees.

"As you all know, I appointed a special committee to analyze and provide advice to me regarding issues attendant to our football program," the letter said, according to The Columbus Dispatch, which first reported Tressel's decision. "In consultation with the senior leadership of the University and the senior leadership of the Board, I have been actively reviewing the matter and have accepted Coach Tressel's resignation.

"My public statement will include our common understanding that throughout all we do, we are one university with one set of standards and one overarching mission," Gee wrote in the letter, according to the Columbus newspaper. "The University's enduring public purposes and its tradition of excellence continue to guide our actions."

The news comes two weeks after Buckeyes athletic director Gene Smith affirmed his support for the coach, who had led the Ohio State program for 10 seasons.

"We look forward to refocusing the football program on doing what we do best -- representing this extraordinary university and its values on the field, in the classroom, and in life," Smith said in the statement. "We look forward to supporting Luke Fickell in his role as our football coach. We have full confidence in his ability to lead our football program."

TheChosenOne · 05-30-2011, 09:26 AM

It's about time.

DonnyMost · 05-30-2011, 09:30 AM

All I know is Ohio State's administration, Gordon Gee in particular, can kiss the darkest part of my white ass.

A_3PO · 05-30-2011, 09:45 AM

Not surprised at all and didn't see how he could hang on.

pge71188 · 05-30-2011, 09:55 AM

bamaslammer · 05-30-2011, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pge71188

It's a good step for him. It shows he has some integrity left. The OSU NCAA case came down to "what he knew and when" and that when was April 2010. The NCAA takes a dim view to folks lying to them, see Pearl, Bruce, as the most recent example. Interested who the Buckeyes go after next. They will have a transition time to a new coach and that would be an opening that Wisconsin, Michigan State or, new Big Ten member Nebraska, could be primed to exploit. That is if Nebraska coach Bo Pelini would take an anger management class. He's a great guy with the fourth estate, always witty, funny and remembers your name, but he is out of control on the sidelines sometimes.

ivenovember · 05-30-2011, 10:55 AM

The NCAA better still bring down the hammer on these violations. I have a slight feeling that they're going to let them off easy but I surely hope they don't.

LongTimeFan · 05-30-2011, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DonnyMost

All I know is Ohio State's administration, Gordon Gee in particular, can kiss the darkest part of my white ass.

You think he shouldn't have been fired?

DonnyMost · 05-30-2011, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LongTimeFan

You think he shouldn't have been fired?

Nah.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5845736

Uprising · 05-30-2011, 07:21 PM

Oh....the state of Ohio.....

Smokey · 05-30-2011, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ivenovember

The NCAA better still bring down the hammer on these violations. I have a slight feeling that they're going to let them off easy but I surely hope they don't.

We'll never know because Tressel the main and probably only source within the athletics department who had knowledge of and lied about a violation is gone.

ItsMyFault · 05-30-2011, 10:31 PM

Not shocking but I don't see why everyone hates OSU. All top schools get away with stuff... Wish Tressell well. He was a pioneer at OSU.

DVauthrin · 05-31-2011, 02:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ItsMyFault

He was a pioneer at OSU.

If by pioneer, you mean the lowest form of scum then I might agree with you. He got the Ohio State job because he cheated for years at Youngstown State. Then, he started cheating at OSU in 2002.

His cheating ways even date back to his time as an Ohio State assistant. When he was in charge of the football camps, he created a raffle system that he would rig to give prizes to the best recruits at the camps. This is all detailed in the latest issue of SI.

ItsMyFault · 05-31-2011, 05:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DVauthrin

If by pioneer, you mean the lowest form of scum then I might agree with you. He got the Ohio State job because he cheated for years at Youngstown State. Then, he started cheating at OSU in 2002.

His cheating ways even date back to his time as an Ohio State assistant. When he was in charge of the football camps, he created a raffle system that he would rig to give prizes to the best recruits at the camps. This is all detailed in the latest issue of SI.

Haters gonna hate.

javal_lon · 05-31-2011, 08:45 AM

Tressell could sell salt to a slug.....I like the way he accumulates talent...Texans should be all over this

DonnyMost · 05-31-2011, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ItsMyFault

Haters gonna hate.

And apparently cheaters gonna cheat.

edwardc · 05-31-2011, 10:05 AM

well well well he did the right thing.

bamaslammer · 05-31-2011, 11:07 AM

They had no choice, especially with the bombshell that SI dropped on them.
The money graph from the SI story.

Quote:

That support crumbled suddenly over Memorial Day weekend. 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.

Complete story below
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...&sct=hp_t11_a2

Also, the OSU compliance director doesn't know how many times he talked with a "friendly" car dealer whose dealership is connected to this whole mess.
http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-foo...-over-50-times

This is a whole big steaming pile of not good. Tressel had to go. No one man, not even Tressel, is bigger than the program. But I don't think parting ways with Tressel and trying to pin all of this on him is going to save the Buckeyes from a worse fate than Alabama or USC when it comes to the NCAA hammer.

And as a member of the media, I freely admit that too many folks in my profession bought into Tressel as a paragon of virtue. Obviously, he wasn't. The sweater vest of shame is Tressel's legacy. Not a national title. Not bringing OSU back to prominence.

And by the way, he had ONE win against an SEC school. ONE! ONE! And that was a game in which the five suspended players were given a get-out-jail-free card to play in the Sugar Bowl, a narrow win over Arkansas.

shipwreck · 05-31-2011, 11:16 AM

I haven't read the thread, because I'm sure it's filled with OSU/YSU sandbagging. I know it's a toxic argument but I hope someone is making it.

I am reminded of a quote from Pony Excess. Do you really think these kids don't deserve to get paid?