Perhaps for the first time since Jim Tressel lied to NCAA investigators in December, the Ohio State Buckeyes football coach finally came to his senses.
Tressel tendered his resignation on Monday after he created nearly six month’s of turmoil for one of college football’s most storied programs.
The news didn’t come as a shock considering the mounting evidence against Tressel, but he sealed his fate long before resigning on Monday.
On April 27, I called for Tressel to resign, making note of the fact that he wouldn’t be the Ohio State football coach for long despite what he may have believed.
As was the case in a similar situation involving former University of Tennessee basketball coach Bruce Pearl, the NCAA wasn’t going to show the Buckeyes’ any leniency if Tressel remained.
It took a little more than a month for him to finally accept personal responsibility, bringing an end to the embarrassment he brought upon himself and Ohio State.
While it’s unfortunate Tressel took this long to do the honorable thing, at least he made the move well in advance of the coming season so the Buckeyes’ football program can have some time to adjust.
The downside though is what remains on the horizon when Ohio State faces the NCAA Committee on Infractions in August, at which time the Buckeyes are going to receive harsh penalties.
Those penalties will likely be less severe now that Tressel has resigned, but they could have amounted to a wrist slap had he done the noble thing and told the truth when confronted last December.
More importantly, NCAA sanctions may have been avoided entirely if Tressel had acted when he was first made aware of players selling team memorabilia.
But now it’s too late. Just as Tressel’s personal fate was sealed from the moment he lied to the NCAA, so was Ohio State’s when the university allowed the situation to grow out of control.
Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith and school president Gordon Gee were both foolish not to fire Tressel when the initial allegations became public, and the Ohio State football program will have to endure penalties as a result of their poor decision.
Vince Lombardi is famous for saying that “winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” But the former Green Bay Packers coach didn’t mean that winning is the only thing regardless of the cost.
The cost of Tressel’s actions will be high, not only for the rest of his coaching career but for the Ohio State football program as well.
Jim Tressel officially knows what the end looks like, and it’s a sad end to a saga that should never have happened.
