The Sweater is gone! Will NCAA sanctions follow?

[burk48237]

Jim Tressle retired/ was fired to day as more revelations about the momorabeia financing of his Ohio state teams and their cover up including lies by Tressle come out. IT will be interesting to see if more sanctions follow I suspect they will due to the alleged cover up of Tressles email. Bring U of M I can't say I'm shedding any tears.

If the three highest profile players of a big-time coach's career all got dinged by the NCAA, you would think that coach might be dirty. So why, after Maurice Clarett, Troy Smith and Terrelle Pryor all faced NCAA sanctions, did people still think Ohio State coach Jim Tressel was squeaky clean? Why, after Tressel admitted in March that he played ineligible players and lied to the NCAA about it, did people still rush to his defense, claiming him an otherwise perfect coach who made one little mistake?

The Ohio State portion of Tressel's story came to an end Monday. Ohio State officials could argue that some of the transgressions described were beyond the coach's control, and they would be correct. But Ohio State has shifted the narrative in recent months. They want you to think this is all a Jim Tressel problem and not an Ohio State problem. A Jim Tressel problem means Ohio State needs a new coach. An Ohio State problem means brutal NCAA sanctions that could cripple the program for years.

Tressel did, however, make a poor choice of NCAA rules to break. An accomplished former coach once told me that the NCAA only considers two violations unforgivable: Getting caught buying a player and getting caught lying to the NCAA. Tressel is guilty of the second, and coaches who get caught lying to the NCAA rarely keep their jobs. Is Tressel the only coach who lied to the NCAA in the past year? Of course not. Nor was Alabama the only program to buy a player in the recruiting class of 2000. But guess what Tressel and the Alabama staff that bought Albert Means have in common? They got caught.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...&sct=hp_t11_a3

[cheezewiz]

THIS Ohio resident thinks Tressel was a cheating SOB from DAY ONE!

[burk48237]

Originally Posted by cheezewiz

THIS Ohio resident thinks Tressel was a cheating SOB from DAY ONE!

This MI resident didn't think Rodriguez was on the straight and arrow either. At least your cheater won.

But I'll be surprised if they don't face serious sanctions. At the end of the "self investigation" they went out of their way to defend Tressle knowing he had sent emails about the situation. This smells like a cover up at higher levels.

[rayzak]

All I know is that Tressle was the best coach OSU had in my lifetime. One strike and you're out, Jim. Sorry, but IMHO, this was blown WAY out of proportion by the frenzied media. Things in college sports need to change, but Jim found himself as the whipping boy of the NCAA while other cheaters and liars win Heismans and are picked in the first round of the NFL draft.

It's too bad that a couple of thugs can end a Hall of Fame career faster than it takes for the ink to dry on their skins, while their head coach was trying to save their skins. Everyone always wants one person to be the "Patsy", and who easier to blame than the head coach... the man in the vest?

[MJ5150]

Originally Posted by rayzak

All I know is that Tressle was the best coach OSU had in my lifetime. One strike and you're out, Jim. Sorry, but IMHO, this was blown WAY out of proportion by the frenzied media. Things in college sports need to change, but Jim found himself as the whipping boy of the NCAA while other cheaters and liars win Heismans and are picked in the first round of the NFL draft.

It's too bad that a couple of thugs can end a Hall of Fame career faster than it takes for the ink to dry on their skins, while their head coach was trying to save their skins. Everyone always wants one person to be the "Patsy", and who easier to blame than the head coach... the man in the vest?

What was blown out of proportion? How is Jim the whipping boy of the NCAA? There are plenty of OSU players cashing NFL paychecks and some of them were drafted in the first round.

Yes, it is too bad, but it's not like Tressel didn't know it was happening. The coach takes the blame because it is his players, his program, his rules. Tressel rode it out as long as he could, and now that the party is over, he's walking away just like Carroll did at USC.

-Mike

[burk48237]

Originally Posted by rayzak

All I know is that Tressle was the best coach OSU had in my lifetime. One strike and you're out, Jim. Sorry, but IMHO, this was blown WAY out of proportion by the frenzied media. Things in college sports need to change, but Jim found himself as the whipping boy of the NCAA while other cheaters and liars win Heismans and are picked in the first round of the NFL draft.

It's too bad that a couple of thugs can end a Hall of Fame career faster than it takes for the ink to dry on their skins, while their head coach was trying to save their skins. Everyone always wants one person to be the "Patsy", and who easier to blame than the head coach... the man in the vest?

Tressle was a "patsy" only in the sense that OSU is trying to escape further sanctions by canning him. He fell on his sword, but it was a sword of his own making. When you lie to the NCAA, play ineligible players, and then reinforce the lie in the schools self investigation those are considered serious violations.

What other cheater coaches are getting away with it? Carrol got caught. I just don't see it. I do believe the SEC schools play loser than the rest. But Again Tressle has admitted the violations, and they are serious. Why should he stay?

[Hawaii Islander]

I don't care if players sell their memorabilia to make an extra buck. I also don't care if a player gets paid to work part time at a car dealership and doesn't do a lot of work for the paycheck. I think the NCAA should allow athletes make extra money doing whatever they want as long as it is legal. The NCAA rules in this regard are archaic. I agree that gambling shouldn't be allowed. I can also agree that student athletes should not be allowed to play professional sports until after they graduate (leave school). Buying athletes expensive gifts (houses, cars, etc) is the same as getting paid to play, which I am against because it means they are no longer amateurs. Just my two pennies worth.

[cheezewiz]

Originally Posted by rayzak

All I know is that Tressle was the best coach OSU had in my lifetime. One strike and you're out, Jim. Sorry, but IMHO, this was blown WAY out of proportion by the frenzied media. Things in college sports need to change, but Jim found himself as the whipping boy of the NCAA while other cheaters and liars win Heismans and are picked in the first round of the NFL draft.

It's too bad that a couple of thugs can end a Hall of Fame career faster than it takes for the ink to dry on their skins, while their head coach was trying to save their skins. Everyone always wants one person to be the "Patsy", and who easier to blame than the head coach... the man in the vest?

Spoken like a TRUE Buckeye homer.

[GregC]

I forget who said it on ESPN, but they said 78 of 81 coaches who have lied to the NCAA about violations at their schools were fired or forced out. If Tressel had simply come clean right away, he might still be the coach.

It's kind of nuts that Tressel has always been held up (and has presented himself) as a paragon of virtue. The guy has a sketchy history going back to Youngstown State and then Maurice Clarett.

[sloasdaylight]

Originally Posted by rayzak

All I know is that Tressle was the best coach OSU had in my lifetime. One strike and you're out, Jim. Sorry, but IMHO, this was blown WAY out of proportion by the frenzied media. Things in college sports need to change, but Jim found himself as the whipping boy of the NCAA while other cheaters and liars win Heismans and are picked in the first round of the NFL draft.

It's too bad that a couple of thugs can end a Hall of Fame career faster than it takes for the ink to dry on their skins, while their head coach was trying to save their skins. Everyone always wants one person to be the "Patsy", and who easier to blame than the head coach... the man in the vest?

If I were an OSU fan I'd be happy Tressel was kicked out. Maybe now you can get a coach who won't blow it in a Title/Bowl Game. He's 6-4 in bowl games, and 1-2,3? in Title games, despite always having pretty much a top 5 ranking from the start of the season to the end because the Big Ten is/was weak. I'm gonna miss beating up on him.

-Love,
The SEC.

[Pilgrim]

The NCAA completely misses the boat. They spend time punishing students (who should be paid a salary in addition to their scholarship) for making tiny missteps (like selling a jersey) while those same student are generating millions in revenue for universities.

Meanwhile, when a coach like Tressel does something that would get a student suspended for an entire season, they get a slap on the wrist, or the institution gets a penalty that's an inconvenience.

Jim Tressel is an excellent coach, but he has pulled a lot of things over time (see the article in the current Athlon Sports college season preview) and he can be coaching next year if someone wants him - and they'll want him. Ohio state has SEVEN full-time employees in their compliance office, but between 2000 and 2009, they reported 375 violations to the NCAA, the most in the country among the 69 schools that submitted records for an investigation.

The result? The NCAA said the Ohio State players "did not receive adequate rules education...". The four players who were suspended at the end of the season (many of whom may not have returned for another year) were given a few game suspensions for the FOLLOWING year, not for the bowl games. Coaching staff? No fines, no penalty from the NCAA. Tressel resigned without ANY action by the NCAA.

The NCAA regs are a complete mess. They are not enforceable. And it's not likely to get better.

[burk48237]

A new SI article this mourning reveals an "eight year pattern of violations" that involved at least 28 players. Which is 22 more than the University acknowledged. It now turns out that Tressles Youngstown stay had the same pattern.

Some people say trading memorabilia for tat's is no big deal. But the tat's ran in price from $100 to $5000 retail, and if anyone has ever tried to buy Jerseys and Helmets used by players they would know that they are big money. I suspect OSU is looking at serious sanctions. OSU hired a cheater and got what they paid for.

A failure to disclose potential violations is considered one of the NCAA's cardinal sins and almost always leads to a coach's dismissal or resignation. Yet Ohio State supported Tressel and continued backing him despite weeks of negative press and calls by prominent alumni for him to be replaced.
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.

In February 2000, 11 months before Ohio State hired Tressel, Youngstown State acknowledged numerous football violations and announced self-imposed sanctions, including the loss of two scholarships. Because it was satisfied with those steps and its statute of limitations on the violations had run out, the NCAA allowed Youngstown to keep the '91 national title, one of four Tressel won with the Penguins. Cochran, who is now retired, still shakes his head over Tressel's contradictions. There was the Christian who lifted kids out of troubled neighborhoods and built a football "family," Cochran says, and there was the coach who claimed to have been kept in the dark after he had assiduously avoided the light. "What bothered me was that the family knows," Cochran says. "Inside the family everyone knows what's going on."

Sports Illustrated investigation on Jim Tressel, Ohio State - SI.com - Magazine

[burk48237]

Pilgrim The NCAA completely misses the boat. They spend time punishing students (who should be paid a salary in addition to their scholarship) for making tiny missteps (like selling a jersey) while those same student are generating millions in revenue for universities.

This I disagree with. First, Jerseys are big money some go on auction for 2-3,000. Second, The schools give most of these athletes (certainly the good ones) a free ride, which is worth a a couple of hundred thousand at most universities. Should they receive a token salary considering the time some sports takes up keeps many from holding part time jobs? Perhaps. But they shouldn't be driving around campus in new SUV's and getting thousands of dollars in perks (tats) no charge.

[aborgman]

Originally Posted by burk48237

This MI resident didn't think Rodriguez was on the straight and arrow either. At least your cheater won.

Yeah... but there is cheating, and CHEATING!...

This is definitely the latter.

This is no puny Big10 style cheating - this is full on SEC style cheating.

[aborgman]

Originally Posted by GregC

The guy has a sketchy history going back to Youngstown State and then Maurice Clarett.

Yep.

REPEATED instances of violations in his programs that he just "wasn't aware of".

[burk48237]

Originally Posted by aborgman

Yeah... but there is cheating, and CHEATING!...

This is definitely the latter.

This is no puny Big10 style cheating - this is full on SEC style cheating.

No doubt.

[fo shizzle]

If OSU escapes major, MAJOR sanctions........ Why even have them? This situation defines the term "lack of institutional control".

[burk48237]

Originally Posted by fo shizzle

If OSU escapes major, MAJOR sanctions........ Why even have them? This situation defines the term "lack of institutional control".

I doubt they will. remember the NCAA hasn't even completed it's preliminary investigation. The only investigation that has been completed was OSU's self-investigation. That's where Tressles initial sanction (5 game suspension) came from.

I suspect MSU and U of M are both going to have an easier job recruiting for at least a couple of years, maybe up to five. This is "death penalty" type stuff with federal grand juries involved because the tat parlor was also a narcotics hub. The school covered up on it's own investigation, the NCAA generally doesn't take kindly to that kind of stuff.

[Gard]

Originally Posted by aborgman

Yeah... but there is cheating, and CHEATING!...

This is definitely the latter.

This is no puny Big10 style cheating - this is full on SEC style cheating.

Spoken like a true "Big" 10 fan that's tired of seeing the teams from that conference get their collective butts handed to them every time they play an SEC team.



Signed
The SEC

[aborgman]

Originally Posted by Gard

Spoken like a true "Big" 10 fan that's tired of seeing the teams from that conference get their collective butts handed to them every time they play an SEC team.



Signed
The SEC

My team is 13-5-1 against the SEC all time, 7-4 in bowl games.

...and we didn't have to be huge cheaters to do it.

While the SEC is no doubt currently the best conference in college football - they're so ethically scummy it's hilarious. Between the cheating, the oversigning, the grey-shirting, and the "medical" disqualifications...