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):
Jim Tressel Resignation: Ohio State Compliance Department Should Receive Blame Too, Says Ex-Buckeyes Coach John Cooper
“Compliance is not doing their job when this kind of stuff happens and they act like they don’t know about it. When I was coaching over there, compliance was around everywhere. It’s almost like they were trying to find us violating a rule.”
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.
Tressel and other Ohio State officials invoked the compliance department for all the good that they had done, but clearly there is a problem when scandals like this occur for nearly a decade.
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