Tressel latest to fall in OSU's Tattoo-gate
- Michelle Wood: SWCD
- June 1, 2011
- 452
Jim Tressel – out at Ohio State.
And Ohio State? Color it doubly scarlet for the scandal that continues to evolve and grow around not only the program but also the inner workings of the OSU athletic office.
First it was players selling jerseys and other memorabilia for tattoos in 2010, a scheme that we now know stretches back to 2002. Players with cars – multiple cars, in the case of Terrelle Pryor – has focused the spotlight on the Buckeyes’ starting quarterback in the past few days. And as the pressure and investigation intensifies, who knows what else is going to be revealed in the coming days?
Tressel, seemingly, was publicly in a position to weather the allegations until Tressel-hater Ray Small and a used-car salesman came public prior to Memorial Day weekend. By Monday, Tressel announced he was stepping down.
Ultimately, I would suspect, it wasn’t the crime but the cover-up – some, I would argue, was not of Tressel’s doing -- that ultimately spelled his doom. Tressel’s 10-year tenure won’t be forgotten by Buckeye faithful and certainly not because of the public allegations of the past six months. His record of 106-22; the upset win over Miami to win OSU’s fifth national championship; appearances in two other national championship games and a 9-1 record over Michigan will see to that.
However, he lied to the NCAA when he said he had no knowledge of Pryor and a handful of other players’ tats-for-memorabilia scheme. What he should have done was kick them under the bus months, if not years ago, when he became aware of their infractions and remind himself that no player is worth more than a program. That is evidenced by Tressel’s questionable recruitment of Maurice Clarett, whose taint on the Buckeye program is still felt.
Instead, Tressel covered for them and then offered up a $250,000 and five-game suspension for himself to mirror the suspensions given Pryor, running back Dan Herron, defensive lineman Solomon Thomas, and OT Mike Adams and receiver DeVier Posey.
Those five are still with the team and suspended for the first five games of 2011, but it doesn’t take a genius to know the Buckeyes and interim coach Luke Fickell would be further ahead to jettison those players to avoid additional misery. That may be especially true with Pryor, who has had eight cars in the past three years according to published reports in the Columbus Dispatch and has come under increased scrutiny over that matter.
One can be assured that Ohio State will continue to “investigate” before Tressel and the university are called before the NCAA in August and then await the punishment that is sure to be dumped on the program. If it is anything like the semi-death penalty that was recently imposed on Southern California, it will be major.
No, Tressel shouldn’t have followed the path he chose. He made a mistake, but if Christians can persist in still following Jim Bakker, Jim Swaggart and Ted Haggard and Republicans persist in turning a blind eye to the likes of Senators David Vitter and John Ensign or former S.C. Gov. Mark Sandford, I am not interested in excessive moralizing. Tressel erred; blinded by the urgency to keep winning at a football factory, he failed to follow his own advice he offered in a book that was lionized for several years and now not so much.
Perhaps Tressel’s fate will be the wake-up call for the cesspool of Division I football and basketball, but who am I kidding? The folks in Division I should still be cognizant of the death penalty imposed on Southern Methodist in 1987, which turned that program into a doormat for 20 years.
Ultimately, though, alumni and university officials should share in Tressel’s misery. Instead of being a sacrificial lamb, OSU trustees should start in the upper reaches of the administration and jettison President Gordon Gee and athletic director Gene Smith in Tressel’s wake. And for those alumni or salesmen too close to the program, they should be stiff-armed away. Clearly, throwing up a wall early on would have proved beneficial for the Buckeyes, but getting an NCAA compliance officer or department that was above board would have helped, too.
Indeed, if the NCAA wanted to make a statement, they should aggressively pursue every Division I program, routinely digging deep into the foundation of every program and keeping constant pressure on its institutions.
The cost, I’m sure Jim Tressel would agree in hindsight, would be worth it.