May 16, 2012

Jim Tressel Resigns at Ohio State

May 30, 2011 By 44 Comments

The Columbus Dispatch is reporting that Jim Tressel has resigned as the head football coach at Ohio State.  The Dispatch is reporting that it was a situation where the University forced or encouraged the resignation, after scandalous headlines continued to pile up.  Luke Fickell, who was named interim coach for the first five games of the 2011 season while Tressel served a suspension, will now serve as interim coach for the duration of next year.

The Dispatch also obtained a memo school President Gordon Gee sent to OSU trustees:

“I write to let you know that later this morning we will be announcing the resignation of Jim Tressel as head coach of the University’s football program. As you all know, I appointed a special committee to analyze and provide advice to me regarding issues attendant to our football program. 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. The University’s enduring public purposes and its tradition of excellence continue to guide our actions.”

The Lantern is also reporting that Gee has said the search for a new coach will not begin until the conclusion of the 2011-12 season.  Athletic Director Gene Smith gave this statement:

“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,” athletic director Gene Smith said in a 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.”

It’s a sad day for many.  George Dohrmann’s Sport Illustrated article will be posted tonight and is rumored to be very damaging, perhaps breaking the last straw for Tressel at OSU.  The weekly headlines continued to add pressure to what was once thought to be a rock solid secure position. We will have more on this in the coming days.

(Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

Filed Under: Buckeyes Tagged With: , ,
  • http://www.redright88.com Titus Pullo

    Wow. Never saw this one coming.

    And if it turns out it was the university that pushed him out, double wow.

    And to think it all started with one little lie.

  • CavsBrownsFan

    I really think the NCAA blew this out of proportion. They’re trying to make an example out of OSU and we just lost the best coach in college sports as a result.

  • MrCleaveland

    It was time.

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Denny

    I am sad.

  • architrance

    Triple WOW.

    Sad day…

  • BuckeyeDawg

    The only thing I am surprised about is that it took this long. In my opinion, the writing has been on the wall for a couple months now…

  • @jogantt

    Yo Holmgren, get on the phone…

  • stin4u

    Not shocked. It was time. Actually, this probably should have happened a month ago.

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Kirk

    The Ohio State University is a better place for having had Jim Tressel for 10 years. He will be deeply missed by this Buckeye.

    My hope is that we can move on from this and once again have an academically strong, successful, ethical, high-character football team to go along with the university itself.

  • GhostToMost

    The Jon Gruden and Urban Meyer rumors are already heating up.

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Bowers

    Still shocked to read that headline even if I shouldn’t be. Sorry to see Tres step down

  • Swig

    Nothing but respect for tressel.

    I’m pouring out an ounce for him tonight

  • Dan

    I have a couple of issues with this whole fiasco in Columbus. First, announce this tomorrow! DO NOT break a headline grabbing story on a national holiday that is intended for us to remember the lives lost at battle for this country! Yes, most people are just enjoying a day off of work and not thinking about the reason they have the day off, but the news should be focused on drawing our attention the Memorial Day. Not Holier than Thee Tressel and OSU.

    Secondly, I hate that when a coach is busted for major NCAA violations (wrong or right) the school gets major sanctions and the coach gets fired. The coaches should be forced to remain at the school to suffer the consequences and promptly fired the minute the sanctions are lifted. A new coach coming in now will have his hands tied with less scholarships, no post-season possibilites and a very tarnished image. His chances for success are reduced and he will likely lose the job in just a couple of years.

    Had to vent!

  • BuckeyeDawg

    There was blood in the water, and the sports media wasn’t going to let this thing die a “natural death”. They wanted Tressel’s head, and they got it. They kept digging and prodding and poking and kept this thing in the news until the inevitable conclusion was reached.

    Make no mistake, Tressel brought this on himself through his poor decisions, but the media is also complicit in this by stoking the fire with rehashed, re-worded headlines and unnecessary interviews of former players that make mountains out of molehills (see Small, Ray).

    Sad to see him go out this way, but nobody is bigger than the program.

  • bayrocket

    He’s a cheater and a liar. Plain and simple.

    On to the next one…

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Denny

    If SI was going to run their piece today you cannot fault Tressel for resigning before it hit press. If anything, he probably should have resigned months back.

    But being mad about news happening today is a non-sequitur at best. There isn’t a congressional mandate stating that no news can occur on federal holidays, nor should there be. Tressel is the kind of guy who would be patently aware that announcing today might take away from ‘remember[ing] the lives lost at battle for this country’.

    Though if he really wanted to bury the story, he’d have announced his resignation on Friday. He’s still got a ways to go if he wants to be seen as ‘Senatorial’.

  • saggy

    i would have loved to play for the guy.

    sad. especially considering there really was no “cheating” involved. No competitive advantage was gained by players selling memorabilia. It’s sad that Tress took the bullet while Auburn U gets to look that their championship trophy in their trophy case, even though their star player was OBVIOUSLY guilty of taking money to play there.

    sad.

  • OhioMIke

    Well….The dispatch got half of what it wanted! Watch out Gee! Its to bad that OSU cant recruit anything but scumbag criminal thugs these days (clarrett/Pryor) or its coachs wouldnt have to cover for them just to get them on the field!

  • M D

    Tressel was wrong, no one can deny it. The funniest thing about this whole Tressel story is that SI, ESPN, Etc. smelled blood in the water and kept digging but ESPN will be the first in line to hire him.
    I have read some comments on other sites and I wish people will drop this Buckeye Nation crap. This “Nation” stuff was invented by ESPN to support the Red Sox’s. All a marketing ploy to drive viewership to their baseball broadcasts to give an alternative team to the Yankees and make their NY/Boston games prime for higher advertising revenue.

  • Scotty

    @ M D – So the reason I root for the Buckeyes is because of an ESPN conspiracy? Of course, it all make sense now..

  • Ike

    I love Tressel and still think the world of the man. His run at OSU was impeccable and as an OSU fan, I’m worried that it may be a long time before we ever get another coach like him.

    That said, the man made mistakes and, in my opinion, got exactly what was coming to him. I think if Tressel had handled this differently, he would absolutely still be the Head Coach at Ohio State.

    A sad day to be a Buckeye fan, but a necessary one at that. O-H..

  • stin4u

    @Saggy – So covering up NCAA violations that could have had your key players suspended for several games including a Bowl game isn’t gaining a competitive advantage? Hm.

  • http://twitter.com/Bbo13 B-bo

    Sad to see a good man brought down by media mandate, but such is the way of things these days. Still, I have no doubt that Ohio State is a better place for Jim Tressel having been there. Sadder to see how quickly the pot shots are coming in from all angles, though success will do that.

    And by the way, if in trying to make a point about some perceived decline in the quality of character of OSU recruits one has to reach back a decade to Mo Clarett, I’m not thinking it’s much of a problem. There are exactly zero college programs in the nation that can claim to be made up wholly of candidates for sainthood. For every bad seed that’s come through Columbus under Tress, there are hundreds of counter-examples, guys to be truly proud of. Let’s at least try to have some perspective here.

  • DocZeus

    This makes me tremendously sad but ultimately, Tressel was responsible for own undoing.

    Tressel was an employee (and a very well-paid and respected employee) of an institution that is designed to profit off the labors of unpaid students. As a member of that institution, it’s his duty to abide and uphold the rules and regulations set in place. He failed to do that and thus, he’s out. If he had simply reported the violations to the NCAA when he discovered them, he’d still have a job.

  • M D

    @Scotty…I’m a die hard Buckeye fan here in TN. I just meant I don’t care for the term “Buckeye Nation” and the fact after listening this weekend to ESPN radio rile against Tressel they probably will try to hire him.

  • Emily

    I’m surprised, but not completely shocked. It’s very sad that it all had to end this way.

  • http://www.redright88.com Titus Pullo

    I’m curious about the people who blame “the media” for this when it was 100 percent Tressel’s doing. If he would have followed the rules like he was supposed to, none of this would have happened.

    What, exactly, was the media supposed to do? Ignore the violations and be a part of the lies? Why should that be their role? They are not a PR arm of the university.

    Nobody is out to “get” Ohio State or Tressel. Don’t shoot the messenger because you don’t like the message.

  • humboldt

    @Titus – It seems pretty clear that media outlets (such as espn) were more focalized around this story than other recent serious scandals at USC, Auburn, etc. Yes, they were just doing their job, but the degree to which this issue received attention relative to other scandals is concerning.

    For the NCAA/media to launch such a sustained inquiry against OSU for its misconduct is a bit like the United Nations launching an investigation on political corruption in one country and ignoring the fact that it’s happening everywhere.

  • CLEFAN4LIFE

    I’m floored by how many OSU fans want to blame the media or simply talk about how great Tressel was during his time. Others want to talk about USC, Auburn or every other school.

    Jim Tressel is a cheater and he got caught. I think it’s time to buckle in and prepare for worse news to hit the media. There’s a lot of smoke in the air extending all the way back to YSU. Jim Tressel appears at this point to be a coach that cheated all the way to the top and continued to cheat to stay there.

    That may not end up being true, but that is the appearance right now.

  • historycat

    Where are all those players who “have his back”? He tries to cover their ass, and because of his bad decisions he gets fired.

    Too bad, he really seemed to care about what happened to his players.

    Too bad they were unethical jerks who cost one of the best coaches in football his job.

  • NJ

    @27 – Thanks for posting my question.

    Since this story originally broke, I’ve been amazed at that “media is out to get him” defense. Well, yeah, the media should be out to get to the truth. That’s what the media does. And it would have done the same thing for any big name coach at any big name program.

    What extra attention did OSU get that USC didn’t? Didn’t the USC scandal get reported pretty much daily? It was harped on until it ran Carroll out of town and forced Bush to give back the Heisman. Didn’t they get sanctions against them? How is this different?

    Tressel broke the rules, yet people still talk in circles to make him the victim.

  • GhostToMost

    Completely agree with Titus. The Columbus Dispatch shouldnt look the other way because its Jim Tressel and Ohio State. How can they maintain any credibility if it gets out that they knew about this stuff, and didnt report it? They cant. Tressel has nobody to blame but himself for this mess.

    And besides, this may actually work out for Ohio State if they get a coach like Urban Meyer in there. I neither root for or against Ohio State, but I actually thought that Tressel’s lack of creativity on offense cost them in several big games. Dont get me wrong the guy is an excellent coach, but he can be replaced.

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Denny

    @ Ghost – as a coach, yes, he can be replaced by someone as good or better. As a part of the university community, I’m not so sure.

  • GhostToMost

    Denny,

    I wont pretend to understand what its like to be a part of the OSU community. But Im curious to know, besides building a winning football program what were some of Tressels contributions to the community? And Im not asking that question to be condescending, Im just curious to hear your perspective since you see him as more than a football coach.

  • humboldt

    People shouldn’t automatically assume that questioning the media’s conduct is analogous to mindlessly defending Tressel. It is reasonable to ask why coverage has been so amped up on espn.

    From my perspective, I think it’s fairly simple. For one, Tressel presents a somewhat sanctimonious public image that makes him look quite hypocritical in the face of a premeditated coverup. Someone like Pete Carrol, on the other hand, had no such veneer and thus the narrative was simply weaker.

    Secondly, espn is still clearly miffed by the Mo Clarret situation when Andy Geiger played hardball with the network. This seems no different than FOX News excessively going after an organization like Planned Parenthood, with which it has fundamental differences.

    Obviously, espn and others should function as watchdogs, but they still have a duty to conduct themselves professionally and fairly. It is appropriate to hold them accountable to those standards as well.

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Denny

    Ghost,

    Tressel has been extremely involved in some sort of Christian group on campus since at least 2002 when I started school there – lots of football players involved, as well as other athletes (and I’m sure plenty of regular students as well. I don’t know the details; I never went but often saw fliers). He teaches at least one class in winter and spring quarters (usually something like Football 101) that are available for any student to sign up for.

    He’s done a lot of charity work and makes more in donations annually than many would in a lifetime (certainly having a salary that high makes for larger possible donations). He spent lots of time doing outreach and work with the university hospital, especially the James Cancer Hospital, and encouraged athletes to make positive impacts in the community.

    A year or so back, he did an interview with a GLBT magazine in Columbus where he discussed his willingness to coach and support any potentially gay athletes on his team – a topic that doesn’t often get broached in the sports world, and is a position that not a whole lot of men in his position (rich, white, conservative, involved in the sports world) tend to publicly take. That interview firmly solidified my opinion on the man.

    In terms of a figurehead for the university, he’s wonderful. I still think he is. He certainly made a mistake, but it’s rare that people don’t. I find it incredibly short-sighted to make condemning remarks about the man’s character and to call him a cheater; life isn’t a series of ones and zeros (not directed at you, Ghost). To say that his time at OSU has been anything but positive for the university is incredibly reductive.

  • http://twitter.com/Bbo13 B-bo

    @humboldt: Precisely. I do not deny that lies were told and rules broken, and that responsibility ultimately falls on Tressel. This isn’t a case of the media being blamed, but their motives and the voracity with which they are attacking the story can certainly be questioned reasonably.

  • jimkanicki

    @ghost/denny — i’d add that tressel did more to create a fabric of community and tradition that any member of the osu family. ever. including coach hayes.

    while the skull session, ramp entrance, (and beating michigan) were in place as tradition, i dont remember it being that big a deal in the 70s. singing the alma mater post game is all tressel. put it together and the ohio state community/family seems tighter/stronger that ever before. way more pride in ohio state now than, imo, the hayes era.

    i worry that a golden age of buckeye football and school pride may have ended. i hope not. but it’ll be hard to find someone who valued osu and its traditions more and helped anyone who touched the school value them too.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eW2ZBU9UHI

  • Jacko24

    I love the Urban Meyer will save day….36 arrests of his players?? That’s exactly what we don’t need…oh but ESPN doesnt talk about that because he was an SEC coach and they have a 200 million dollar contract with that conference….

  • Shamrock

    A Christian can’t cheat? Regardless college football is as dirty as almost any collegiate sport and nothing will change. The fact it happened at The Ohio State shouldn’t surprise anyone. I’m sure Tressell took a bullet but he wasn’t alone. Now it’s time for the University to be penalized. The sad part is future players will lose the most probably not guys named Pryor.

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Denny

    ‘A Christian can’t cheat?’

    That wasn’t the implication at all, troll. Without diving too far down that rabbit hole, they can. That’s been obvious for a long time.

  • JM

    I guess you have to be a part of the OSU club or whatever to understand what Jim meant to the school and the state in general. And I know people will say he covered it up to try to win. But he also was trying to protect the kids. Too bad because where are all the players now? Besides LeCharles of course.

  • Shamrock

    LoL Denny I’ll pray for you! It’s Urban Meyer time!!

  • Keith R Krzeminski

    Wow…and to think that all things college football are ‘pure’

    See ya lier…and all ‘suspended’ players should be cut immediatly, ther is no room for ghetto ball at OSU – leave that to Michigan (who by the way is licking their chops for this years game)

    LT K