Ohio State Football Escapes New Violations From NCAA

Vrabel made it official releasing a statement through his agent on Monday morning.

After 14 years in the National Football League, I have decided to retire and accept the position of Linebackers Coach at The Ohio State University.

With reports expecting the Ohio State football team to hire ex-Buckeye Mike Vrabel, the university has announced a press conference for Monday morning at 10:00 a.m. ET, reports Lori Schmidt of 97.1 The Fan. While Ohio State has yet to confirm any of these reports, the press conference hints largely at that being the day’s topic.

With the current state of the Buckeyes’ football program, bringing back one of their former players is not only good publicity but also a good way for Vrabel to enter the coaching ranks, something he has acknowledged in the past.

Expect the school to make the announcement Monday if it’s actually happening, according to reports. Ohio State is denying the news at the moment.

Mike Vrabel may end up being the final domino to fall into place after violations severely altered the Ohio State coaching staff in 2011. With Jim Tressel out and Luke Fickell in as the new head coach, Fickell’s former spot on the defensive side was in need of a replacement.

According to CollegeFootballTalk, “there’s a very good chance” former Ohio State defensive lineman and current Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Mike Vrabel will be named as a defensive assistant for the Buckeyes and that announcement could be made as early as this coming Monday.

Luke Fickell probably didn’t want to take over the Ohio State football program like this. The former co-defensive coordinator has had the “interim” tag removed and is now the head coach of the Buckeyes, permanently taking over for Jim Tressel about a month after he resigned under a cloud of controversy.

The hiring of Fickell seems to make a lot sense, at least from the perspective that Ohio State is still facing an uncertain future and the big-name guys would be unlikely to sign on given that. Fickell spoke about that very issue recently:

↵In the wake of his resignation from Ohio State, Jim Tressel opted not to attend the rules compliance seminar in Tampa, Fla., last week.↵↵[Via.]

The Ohio St. Buckeyes introduced interim coach Luke Fickell on Monday, making the former assistant the team’s first new head coach since Jim Tressel took over before the 2001 season. Tressel, you’ll recall, resigned a few weeks ago as scandals came crashing and howling onto Columbus from every angle. Have fun, new guy!

Athletic director Gene Smith on the promotion:

↵[NSFW if your employers might disapprove of cartoons containing small naked creatures in Michigan football helmets.]

There’s no way for a school like Ohio State to keep quiet the resignation of longtime Head Coach Jim Tressel in a rules-breaking scandal and the naming of Luke Fickell as interim coach. Then again, there are some things that can only increase the glare on the school. Such as a press conference to announced the already-announced promotion of Fickell, televised live by a quasi-national cable network.

Wisely, Tressel did not follow his promise by saying, “And you can take that to the bank!” or “And you can write that down in ink!” or “You get a car! You get a car! You get a car!”

The video of Ohio State fans singing a merry “We Don’t Give a Damn About the Whole State of Michigan,” via the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Jim Tressel’s predecessor as Ohio State football coach, John Cooper, took aim at the university’s compliance department for failing to make sure that the team followed NCAA guidelines. Cooper appeared on local Columbus television the same day Tressel resigned and said the following (via Sports by Brooks):

What could have caused the compliance department to overlook many of these violations while his program was looked over with a fine tooth comb? It’s what’s even more important than winning the National Championship: defeating Michigan, which Cooper could not do and Tressel did.

↵Look at his tweet. He really is referring to Nick Saben, whom you can create a MyLife account to meet. Sign up today, Mr. Gee.

Jim Tressel will not be missed by the greater college football universe at large, and Ohioans should be smug enough about that. Correction: they will be smug about it whether you like it or not. You won’t and can’t stop them from pointing to Tressel’s dominance of the Big Ten, because they have for the past decade run through the conference like a hot knife through so much yielding casserole. (Excuse us: “hot dish.”) They will mention Craig Krenzel’s possession of one BCS Title ring, and will either a.) claim pass interference on the decisive play in the game, or b.) admit pass interference, and then make the GenX “suck it” gesture.

They are Ohio State fans, and you cannot blame them for being themselves. Apologies for anything in the Tressel era on the field in terms of result are unnecessary. By extension this means you get no apologies for a decade of the most successful and yet unwatchable brand of football this side of its era. Tresselball was ugly football, and nail-biting only if you were chewing your fingers in order to feel something, anything like a human sensation in a long string of power runs, high school passing plays, and punts. Thousands, and thousands, and thousands of punts.

With Jim Tressel’s career at Ohio State finished thanks to investigation, investigation, and resignation, and his career in major-college football likely over by association, what’s a middle-aged unemployed multimillionaire to do? In-house NFL blogger Gil Brandt says not to expect the Senator to be spotted strolling a pro sideline any time soon. It’s a guess, but it’s a guess that makes sense: If this maelstrom of scandal upon scandal has demonstrated anything, it’s Tressel’s nature as a players’ coach. Nefariously or no, mentoring players is a clear passion of Tressel’s, and there’s got to be an upstart program somewhere deep enough in the “any publicity is good publicity” game to accept his help.

The one guy sure to be standing in Columbus next season is incoming interim head coach Luke Fickell, and SB Nation’s Ohio State blog has an unorthodox suggestion for him: Lean on Lloyd Carr.

As we dive further into George Dohrmann’s Sports Illustrated article on Jim Tressel and the state of Ohio State football, plenty of new allegations emerge.

Of course the article also gets in-depth about the more well-known claims, such as the recent tattoo allegations. While some of the allegations might be described as nitpicky or not a big deal on their own, it’s the massive history of alleged incidents and violations that will forever change the way the college football world views Jim Tressel.

The gist of the article is that while Tressel was a man of integrity on the field, he was a man willing to play the ignorant fool off of it when it came to his players and their perks. And it’s something that existed long before Tressel ever stepped foot in Columbus.

And that’s before we even get to the recent memorabilia-for-tattoos violations and other issues Terrelle Pryor may have gotten himself into.

Twitter waits for no man and it certainly waits for no Sports Illustrated article that exposes the many issues that have permeated THE Ohio State University’s football program under Jim Tressel’s watch.

↵George Dohrmann’s article was expected to be live between 7:30pm and 8:00pm EST Monday night but, as of this moment, it remains MIA. Dohrmann took to Twitter to explain that its coming soon. Not content to wait patiently, the Twitterverse has found many ways to entertain itself, as it is wont to do.

I don’t know what that ellipsis’d part means either. Many will cackle at the parts about stepping down for the good of the institution, but one way or another it’s sort of true. Though it probably wasn’t entirely Tressel’s idea, Ohio State can only hope the removal of Tressel convinces the NCAA to be gentle in the near future.

ht Andy Staples

While the news of Jim Tressel’s resignation as football coach at Ohio State caught most media members and OSU football fans by surprise on this holiday Monday morning, it seems the players were equally blindsided to lose their leader. Thanks to Twitter (and some of these Buckeyes tweet quite a bit), we were able to round up their reactions from the time the news broke through the early parts of the afternoon.

In the wake of Jim Tressel’s sudden resignation as Ohio State’s football coach on Monday morning, the Buckeyes’ athletics director, Gene Smith, released a video statement in which he provided a detailed timeline that led to this morning’s announcement.

Smith said that he met with Tressel on Sunday evening when the football coach returned from vacation, and they discussed the “state of the program.” At that point, according to Smith, Tressel decided to resign; the two met again on Monday morning in Tressel’s office, where the coach handed in his official letter of resignation. Tressel also addressed the team, explaining how the transition would work.

The resignation of Jim Tressel as head coach of Ohio State football has officially been accepted by university president Gordon Gee, according to a statement released by the school on Memorial Day. The full statement can be seen below.

Tressel resigned suddenly on Monday following months of scandals and investigations around the Ohio State football program. Co-defensive coordinator Luke Fickell will coach the school in 2011.