| 10 March 2011
Last evening I thought we had put Tattoogate to bed.....again. I was hoping it was the last time I would ever hear about it, well, at least until game five next year. Buckeye nation seemed to rally around the coach. Some didn't think it was a big deal. Others were ready to accept it. On toward bedtime I found myself reading more and more negative opinions. Some thought coach Tressel should resign and if he would not resign he should be fired.
I wake up this morning to discover that those who think he should be fired/resign has just been keeping their powder dry. The momentum is building. It is a slow steady building but for anyone that wants to keep Jim Tressel around it is a disturbing change.
The Big Ten, and Ohio State specifically, have always claimed to be a cut above. The bad behavior from other schools and other programs was pointed to by Big Ten supporters as something that this conference and this football coach would never stoop to. We know Jim Tressel has been called The Senator. He has also been referred to as Mr. Rogers because he is so squeaky clean.
That all changed a couple of days ago when it was learned he did indeed know about the tattoos and how they were paid for. The inept press conference that followed did not help the situation. It was poorly handled and whoever made the decision to allow questions should have their head examined. "Amateur hour" is how a friend aptly described it.
I think this is overblown. To compare it to the Cam Newton situation is like comparing apples to oranges. That was going out deliberately, and with premeditation, choosing to cheat. Jim Tressel tried to cover up the bad behavior of some key players on a number one ranked football team. Yes, he was wrong. I still say that I don't know what he could do and now that the attorney involved has been identified, I can see where coach would have just ignored such a character with his baggage, but in the end he made the wrong decision. It would have been a hard one for anyone in the same situation. Take the chance of losing your difference maker quarterback, playmaking receiver and elite left tackle on a potential national championship team by opening some kind of toothless investigation? That would be a hard thing to do. The reality is an intense competitor. You don't get to be the head coach of a school like Ohio State without being an intense competitor. Lose it all over this? Jim Tressel has been put on a pedestal. He showed he was human with this decision. Last night I was talking with a guy on Bucknuts about this. He said Jim Tressel would have a hard time climbing back up on that pedestal. My response was, how about we not put him back up there.
I don't like this any more than those that want him fired. I am just more accepting that coach Tressel is doing the best he can in an insane situation. We want coaches to be character builders and stand up as examples. The truth is that is extra. The football coach in this day and age is in a massive money job like Ohio State to win football games. If he is keeping graduation rates high, which he is, and influencing the next generation of leaders, which he is, that is extra. Despite that off the field success he would not keep his job if he was piling up four loss seasons.
The Dispatch has published a story that includes an ominous number. Ten of the other eleven coaches who have been called on the same violation that Jim Tressel has been called on were fired or resigned. Colin Cowerd is reporting that he is hearing Jim Tressels job is in jeopardy. Considering the standards the Big Ten has set I am not going to dispute that.
What I am going to say is be careful what you wish for. I think Jim Tressel is running as clean a program as can be run in the current environment. I am absolutely sure that he is an honorable and decent man. We are at a terrible time of year for a coaching change. All the good ones have been picked over at this point and the interim label will kill recruiting so appointing a Jim Heacock or an Jim Bollman would set the program back as I suspect neither is interested in being a head coach at this late date. I believe both would retire if Jim Tressel would resign or be fired.
I don't know what those other ten coaches did. I do not know what they had done in the past. I do not know their standing with their schools. I do not even know their names. What I do know is this is not a firing offense and I do not think you will find a coach who can run it any cleaner than Jim Tressel has and will still win games.
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