Jim Tressel was forced to resign. And while ESPN pundits, SI writers, and other media members misguidedly chest-bump themselves and strain their shoulders patting themselves on the back, I can't help but think that a good man was taken down largely because, as my boss put it, "He did the wrong thing for the right reasons". There's no doubt that Jim Tressel screwed up. His fate was sealed not in April of 2010 when he didn't forward the infamous emails onto someone at OSU, nor even in September, when he signed the NCAA form stating that he was unaware of violations, but in December, when the situation came to light and he didn't disclose that he had been informed of players' transgressions. Why he didn't may always remain a mystery, and I'm not fully certain I even want to know.
That said I do think the man intended to protect his players and extract them from a very bad situation. There's no doubt that Tressel has a deep and abiding affection for his players. And they for them. That's readily apparent from comments they've made in social networking outlets like Facebook and Twitter. Current players, former players, even disgraced figures like Maurice Clarett have come to Tressel's defense. Ray Issac, the man at the center of Tressel's first brush with the NCAA, was very vocal in support of Tressel including asserting that there is no way Tressel could have known about Issac's extracurricular doings at Youngstown. (A point that seems glossed over by the media). My guess is that type of loyalty isn't an accident, but comes from the efforts of Jim Tressel and his staff to build a family of sorts.
And indeed Tressel's actions over the years shows that he was trying to build something bigger, that it wasn't "about the ball." For years Tressel has eschewed the practice of having hundreds of recruits come to campus, but has instead focused on a select few. His honesty with recruits has at times cost him; Fred Davis went to USC in part because Pete Carroll told him he would be a wide receiver, while Tressel told him he would be a tight end at OSU--Fred wound up at tight end. He put Tyson Gentry on scholarship after his tragic accident even though Gentry was a walk-on so Tyson's family wouldn't have to bear the cost of his education and his rehabilitation. And perhaps most tellingly, he reached out to, forgave, and got Maurice Clarett back into school when most, including me, would have turned their back on him. Thus, while some find it completely implausible that Tressel's motive was to protect his players, it doesn't seem out of character at all. Indeed if his motives were as sinister and self-serving as some suggest, then he went about things about as clumsily as one could.
And that's what makes this whole ordeal all the more tragic. It could have easily been avoided, at numerous places-last April by forwarding the emails on; in September by acknowledging he was aware that there may be issues with a couple players; or in December by acknowledging that he had been made aware of issues. The course of action he chose meant that the potential consequences escalated at each step until we reached this point. The odd part about time timing of the resignation is that it came before the release of the SI article, an article that as it turns out had little to nothing to do with Jim Tressel, aside from spurious dot connecting and an inane charge of raffle rigging from the 80's. Indeed nothing with regard to Jim Tressel changed from March 8th until his resignation, media claims to contrary notwithstanding.
In terms of the players, fan reaction to them will be interesting. Unfortunately for them, most are seniors and their tme to redeem themselves is short.
In terms of the invetigation, I still maintain that there is a lot more smoke than fire. Aside from allegations that more players were involved than just the orginal 6, and some potential issues with Terrelle Pryor and cars, there doesn't seem to be much there, and nothing on the magnitude of what happened at USC or what may have taken place at Auburn (by the way, what was Auburn doing in the 4 months between when they were notified that there was a possible issue with Cam Newton and when the NCAA investigated the allegations?). While ESPN talking heads postulate on the likelihood of program damning penalties, there doesn't seem to be much there to justify them. Or maybe I'm being naive.
As for Ohio State, it will survive. A bit bloodied perhaps, but intact. It will get through this and be just fine.
