Jim Tressel's coaching career at Ohio State might soon be over. We already know Tressel has been suspended for the first 5 games of the 2011 season and fined $250,000 for failing to report numerous violations with his players to Ohio State's compliance department and the NCAA. Now there is word that Tressel has lied again about not sharing that information with anybody else acccording to BuckeyeExtra.com.
When Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel learned last spring that some of his current players were in trouble, he shared the information with someone he thought could help his star quarterback even though he said he didn't tell his bosses.
Tressel forwarded the information to Ted Sarniak, a mentor to Terrelle Pryor, after the coach received emails warning that Pryor and at least one other player had sold memorabilia to a local tattoo-parlor owner who was under federal investigation for drug trafficking, multiple sources have confirmed to The Dispatch.
Sarniak, 67, is a prominent businessman in Pryor's hometown of Jeannette, Pa. He befriended the quarterback years ago and accompanied him on recruiting trips to Ohio State and other universities.
During a news conference on March 8 to announce NCAA ethics violations by Tressel, the coach said he kept the information to himself to protect the confidentiality of the federal investigation and for the safety of his players.
But Tressel also nodded his head and said "um-hmm" when asked whether he had forwarded the emails to anyone.
Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith quickly intervened to prevent Tressel from answering that question about the matter currently under investigation by the NCAA.
Say it isn't so Sweatervest! The giant ball of lies continues to build up for Tressel. All Tressel had to do was report what he knew to Ohio State and the NCAA and he would be in the clear. Sure the players would have gotten suspended for a stupid rule to begin with but at least Tressel would have done the right thing. As the head coach it's his job to report these things he finds out if anything to cover his own ass. What I'm starting to wonder is if he told his athletic director Smith? I'm thinking he did and Smith told him to keep it on the hush and hush and hope the story goes away. But what we do know is Tressel has setup a pattern of lies in which he basically will have a hard time recovering from.
At this point I think there is no turning back for Tressel and Ohio State. The scrutiny is too much and the media is not going to stop asking questions nor should they since Tressel continues to lie about what he knew. The truth is Tressel is in deep shit with no exit strategy. If the University wishes to avoid a "Pete Carroll" they are going to either have to be honest with Tressel answering all questions that are reasonable or straight up fire him. Tressel knowingly lied to the NCAA and played players who were ineligible last season. The coverup as it unravels is something no coach can survive.
At this point I think the possibility of Ohio native and former Ohio State assistant coach Urban Meyer getting back to college football in Columbus in 2012 is becoming more a formality.
