On Christmas Day, two sources that are very close to recruiting at prominent universities confirmed that Jim Tressel will not be able to continue as the head football coach at Ohio State University after the Sugar Bowl against Arkansas.
Ohio State was rocked by the suspensions of five key players, including top running back Dan "Boom" Herron and Heisman-hopeful quarterback Terrelle Pryor, for the first five games of the 2011 season earlier this week.
The sources indicated that Buckeye recruits have been informed that Tressel will not be back as coach, and have been allowed to look for other options.
Ohio State has one of the largest compliance departments in the country, yet they have reported 375 violations to the NCAA from 2000-2009, the most in the country.
Early in Tressel's tenure at OSU he had to deal with the Maurice Clarrett debacle, and Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith was suspended for two games for accepting money from a booster. The latest violations are just another dark page in the recent history of the Buckeye program.
This is major news in the college football world, especially after the University of Miami made a coaching change immediately after the regular season. The thought that Tressel would be out of a job before Rich Rodriguez at Michigan is also astounding.
Where the Buckeyes go to find a replacement is anyone's guess.The number of professional jobs that could come available in early January could cloud the hiring process in Columbus.
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UPDATE: I have read comments from Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith on Saturday afternoon. I am also well aware that Ohio State fans and alumni don't like me; the thousands of personal attacks and taunts on Twitter made that perfectly clear.
However, the sources that provided me with this information were clear with their comments, and I am comfortable sticking with what I have been told. If I was wrong, I will publish a strong statement to that effect in the future.
Filed under: College Football
Tags: @Featured, Jim Tressel, Ohio State, Terrelle Pryor
Egg Nog addiction is an ugly thing when seen out in the open. I don't blame you Tab, I'm spending Christmas with the in-laws today. We both had one too many drinks this afternoon. Most likely only Tressel knows what will happen to Tressel. Merry Christmas!
No egg nog was consumed in the production of this entry.
this doesn't even make sense, and the fact that it's coming out of Chicago makes even less sense. wtf do you people smoke up there? i'd like to try it.
Great reporting guy, way to not have a bias. How about you mention some of the great things tressel has done for the university and the state of ohio? Why is some low level chicago website reporting this? Yea I'm sure some tiny website is gonna break the news of tressel stepping down. Chicagonow.com is a joke. This isn't even the lowest level of journalism
Mike, you must have graduated from Ohio State. Not because you are clearly a homer, but because you lack a quality education in how journalism works in 2010. "Tiny" websites like this are the only ones breaking news today.
haha hilarious! what a joke this is. although it would be a a christmas miracle for most of the big 10 opposition if tress did leave, absolutely will not happen. he's got his contract on lock and an asst AD position waiting for him after. what kind of hack makes this up? dream on haters.
This would have been funnier on "The Onion"; another fine piece of online jouralism fellas.
You did get your 23 seconds of fame!!!
Merry Christmas and Go Bucks!
This is the biggest bunch of crock I have ever seen! This blogger is really letting his anti-Ohio State bias show through with this article. Your sources reek. None of this is true. Maybe you should study journalism in college, or get your GED.
Wow BB, this clearly hit a note with you. Are you secretly ashamed that Ohio State has the best players money can buy?
Ohio State is the only team that has anything worth selling !. Ouch !!
Things learned/confirmed:
1. OSU fans are class acts
2. Tressel leaving is an interesting idea that may or may not be true, but would not be confirmed until after the Bowl (which seems like an obvious concept)
3. OSU fans are great at name calling and acting outraged
4. The guy who wrote this blog is receiving a crap-load of unwarranted harassment over a simple post that seems to have some merit or truth
5. None of the anonymous commenters will be coming back to apologize if this turns out to be true
I love the homers from OSU who are so blind to what a violation-ridden program they have, not to mention their record of hiring coaches who are just a little less shady than the one's hired at USC. Most college programs are dirty (OSU included) and most coaches are to blame (Tressel included).
What I think is most laughable is that anyone believes the denials from the OSU administration. That's their job - to deny - and they get away with it because we never call them to carpet when their denials turn out to be just another lie from a dirty university...
awwww, BB...did someone say something bad about the Buckeyes and make you sad?? One of the dirtiest, most corrupt programs in the country...PROVEN...and you're defending them? Gordon Gie talks crap that TCU and Boise shouldn't be allowed to compete for the NC, yet he puts no pressure on scheduling them...hmmm, I wonder why??
I am in no manner whatsoever an Ohio State fan, I grew up a Spartan and went to Purdue for my undergrad and post grad studies. But what exactly in the hell has ever happened that could even remotely lead you to conclude that Ohio State is the dirtiest program in America? This was a case of players selling their shit to some collector, in what way does that reflect on the program? How many instances have EVER come up that identified cases of Ohio State's athletics paying for a player? PROVEN? You obviously don' know what the hell you are talking about. There are 12 teams in the SEC alone that run programs beyond anything that even Michigan's Fab Five basketball team could begin to comprehend. I could care less if Ohio State was a dirty program I'd rip them to pieces, but your ignorance is the only thing that deserves any note on this likely fabricated post.
What a junk hack rumor. Way to make things up TAB trying to make a name for yourself. I am sure someone who doesn't even cover college football who lives in Chicago has an inside track on OSU information. Gene Smith has already denied the rumor.
dude, you must have been the jared lorenzen of qb's and the javorski Lane of rb's in your day... hopefully you were a better athlete than blogger. i can't believe this garbage got enough attention to stir up a response from gene smith. you are full of fiction!
So TAB, when will you address the fact that you made this up? Recruits have heard absolutely nothing you said (they are always open to look around anyways, they have not signed their LOI's, shows how much you know) insiders said there is no truth to it and OSU's AD himself said the rumor is not true. So come on TAB, you will not live this down. You do not cover NCAAFB nor OSU. Leave it to the REAL insiders
This is exactly what happens when fucking morons have to much time and a computer. Did you get tired of searhing for gay porn? Get a life fatass!!
Someone should call children's service before this guy eats his kid!!
HAHAHAHAHAHA wow, that's a good one! Gene Smith just stated on twitter that this is completely false, as well as numerous other REAL OSU insiders who have called and spoken with recruits, but good try kid! You don't know SHIT about Ohio State, or Ohio sports in general, so leave it up to people who do. Stop trolling and get back to writing for your high school newspaper or whatever the hell this crap is.
And nice disclaimer too... hahahahaha what a joke! Name your sources or go home!
AND, why would these "sources" tell you crap? No couch quarterback who writes for a second rate sports blog is going to break this news before Ohio State's own athletic department knows about it. Yeah right, you're not fooling anyone, bud.
Wow Tad, you have certainly riled up a few Buckeyes. Let them tell you the way it is: Tressel is as white as snow, always has been (Youngstown St, Clarett, Troy Smith, Tatoogate, etc.), always will be. They will also claim that the 375 violations to which you refer are a figment of your imagination.
This is a big part of the problem-- in the eyes of their dunderheaded fans, OSU can do no wrong. Just deny and move on. This will ultimately (and maybe much sooner than I thought) cause their dirty program to collapse.
The 375 violations over a 9 year period came from 36 varsity sports, not just football. I realize this is just a blog but come on, that's a pretty easy fact to check.
Where in the story did I label all 375 as football-related?
really? how about citing other schools record in FOOTBALL instead of a broad, biased, statement like yours...
Let's se what we have going against TAB
1. Doesn't even understand how recruiting wors
2. Recruits completely deny this
3. LOCAL sources deny this
4. AD denies this
5. Its doubtful that a Chicago pro sports blogger has inside information on a college team in Central Ohio
That's a symptom of all cfb fans not just OSU. For whatever reason, doe-hard college football fans seem to think their program is innocent and pure, and can do no wrong, even in the face of evidence to the contrary
Not sure how anyone from Chicago found out about this, but unfortunately there is some merit to this story. Could be good news though for a family in central Ohio though, so maybe there's a silver lining to this after all! Merry Christmas, and Go Bucks!
As a non football fan, why couldn't this be true? Of course Gene Smith is going to debunk the rumor. I'm sure he doesn't want to stir things up now...a Sugar Bowl victory generates too much money for THE Ohio State University. And even if it isn't true, TAB has stated that he will make a statement saying he was wrong. Where's the harm in that? You die hard OSU fans need to look at things objectively for a change.
You're an imbecile. There is not one dollar extra given to the school that wins the Sugar Bowl (or any other bowl game, for that matter). The outcome of college bowl games is entirely ceremonial.
Even the big guys are laughing at this: http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/12/25/rotfl-report-says-tressel-to-step-down-as-osu-coach/
Did your "sources" also tell you that Rich Rod is Tressel's replacement? Come on... Really, I'm not trying to be rude but this is just a hoot. Tressel is signed through 2014 to coach here, and even if he were to step down, this isn't the manner in which he'd leave. If you're an OSU fan, then you know that, and you also know the guy is a class act. Not many people, haters excluded, would disagree here. Go Bucks and happy holidays.
I have never tamed to a source, but I can tell you that my bio clearly indicates that I did not attend a Big Ten university.
It's great they self-report "everything"...now if only they wouldn't violate the rules...
This may make sense, Tressell may be stepping down.
On the heals of Cleveland Browns coach Eric Mangini's firing, after an embarrassing loss against neighbor state rivalry Steelers, Cleveland Browns have begun an immediate search for a replacement coach, someone who has the right stuff and has ties with the mentality of the Browns and the culture of the team, someone right for Cleveland life.
Ohio State Buckeyes coach, Jim Tressell has been amidst controversy with his latest episode of player infractions and conduct, not becoming of what the university and football program stands for. Tressell must take some blame for the latest situation, as he should, being the coach. He is the leader of the team and in the past has had other dealings with off field events by other players, highly publicized in media.
The Cleveland Browns now with an opening, Tressell and OSU heading into Tuesday nights Allstate Sugar Bowl, OSU is under pressure to walk away with a win on this, a win to temporarily put behind the events and investigations of the most recent events involving five OSU players. OSU