After the NCAA issued a 13-page indictment against Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel, many are speculating if the school will fire him.
Based on the allegations levied against Tressel and the Buckeyes football program, the NCAA has made it clear that stern action will be taken against Ohio State.
In a similar case, former Tennessee Vols basketball coach Bruce Pearl lied to NCAA investigators when he was asked about a recruit visiting his home.
But unlike Pearl, Tressel lied or omitted the truth entirely when he didn’t report the e-mail sent to him from attorney Christopher Cicero, a former Buckeyes player.
In March, the Columbus Post Dispatch reported that Tressel forwarded the e-mails he received from Cicero to Ted Sarniak, a mentor of sorts to Buckeyes’ quarterback Terrell Pryor, one of the players that was involved in selling team memorabilia to a tattoo parlor owner.
On Tuesday, the web site Sports by Brooks reported that Ohio State players have been selling team merchandise for nearly a decade while Tressel has been the coach.
With more evidence mounting against him, Tressel may not want to face the reality of his situation, but the handwriting is on the wall.
After Yahoo! Sports first broke the story about Tressel knowing months in advance that some of his players were selling team memorabilia, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith and university president Gordon Gee scoffed at the notion that the coach should be fired.
Now that the NCAA has their sights set on Tressel, perhaps Smith and Gee will have a change of heart.
Just as the NCAA forced the hand of Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton to fire Pearl, Ohio State is facing a similar situation with Tressel.
But forcing Ohio State to fire him isn’t what Tressel should do. If he indeed is a man of integrity like we’ve been made to believe, then he’ll resign as the Buckeyes football coach.
In resigning, Tressel could for the first time throughout this ordeal actually show that he’s willing to accept responsibility and be held accountable for his actions.
To date, Tressel has done nothing to suggest that he’s willing to acknowledge his failures caused this mess for the school he claims to love.
Well, if Tressel really cares that much about Ohio State University, then he’ll tender his resignation today.
But don’t hold your breath.
What we’ve learned about Tressel over the past few months tends to make you think he doesn’t have the moral courage to do the right thing.
If Tressel was a principled man, he would have already resigned.
Something tells me that Tressel believes he’ll weather this storm and keep his job, even though the NCAA is going to impose harsh penalties against the Buckeyes football program.
It would seem that only a vein and arrogant man could arrive at such a conclusion, knowingly bringing harsher sanctions against the school if he doesn’t resign or if Ohio State doesn’t end his employment.
But that seems to be the Tressel way of doing things. Ignoring the obvious and lacking the intestinal fortitude to do the noble thing.
Despite what anyone may think, Tressel won’t be the head football coach at Ohio State for long. Regardless if he’s fired or resigns, in the end Tressel will be no different than Pearl and the others that ignored their responsibilities.
Tressel will be remembered as nothing more than a disgraced figure that will be lucky if he can land a coaching job at the local high school, and he’ll deserve every ounce of the embarrassment he receives because he brought all of it upon himself.
