Ex-Ohio State coach Tressel taking administrative job at Akron

CLEVELAND — Jim Tressel is getting a “second chance” at the school where he started coaching.

The former Ohio State coach, who resigned in disgrace last May amid a cash-for-tattoos scandal at the football powerhouse, was hired by Akron on Thursday as vice president of strategic engagement — a position newly created for him.

Tressel will earn a base salary of $200,000 per year, more than $3 million less than he made during the last of 10 years guiding the Buckeyes. Tressel will begin his new job on May 1.

“I feel fortunate that I got this opportunity,” Tressel said following a packed news conference unlike any in the school’s history. “It’s going to be a fun one.”

In his new position, Tressel, who said he has no interest in coaching in the NFL, will work with Akron’s students, alumni and community organizations on a variety of issues. Tressel will not have any direct involvement with the school’s athletic department, one of the conditions of the five-year, show-cause sanction he was given by the NCAA following an investigation.

Read more from CBSSports.com

2.3.12

Will Jim Tressel’s path from NCAA violations carry him to Colts’ coaching vacancy?

COLUMBUS, Ohio — After the Indianapolis Colts finished their 2-14 season three weeks ago as the worst team in the NFL, losing, 19-13, at Jacksonville, Peyton Manning was surrounded by a gaggle of reporters against a wall of the visiting locker room.

The questions were about whether Manning will be the Colts’ quarterback in 2012. Could the head coach in 2012 have been getting dressed in the room behind Manning, a survivor in a purge that has already seen the team fire vice chairman Bill Polian, General Manager Chris Polian and coach Jim Caldwell?

Read more from Cleveland.com

1.25.12

Starkey: Lessons from Paterno, Tressel

Black clouds will eventually pass on Jim Tressel’s Ohio State legacy

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Jim Tressel stood before a microphone at Kinnick Stadium last November, in no mood to hear about winning ugly. After fielding several questions about Ohio State’s sputtering offense in a narrow victory over Iowa, the Buckeyes’ coach said, “Before you put quill to paper, think about how tough that Iowa defense was that we faced.”

Taking umbrage at Tressel’s little jibes was a cottage industry for a few reporters, but some of us felt that one was pretty funny. “And me without my parchment,” one guy said.

cleveland.com
6/18/11

Columbus attorney and former Ohio State walk-on football player Christopher Cicero violated professional conflict of interest codes for informing former Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel of his players’ NCAA violations.

Several Ohio media outlets reported that the Ohio Supreme Court’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel filed the complaint. The complaint states that Cicero learned of the players’ memorabilia-for-tattoos exchange from conversations with tattoo parlor owner Edward Rife. Sharing those conversations violated attorney-client privilege and confidentiality.

Read more of “Attorney in violation for sharing info with Jim Tressel” on SportingNews.com
6.14.11

Naming your kid after Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel probably seemed like a pretty safe bet at the time; what could possibly go wrong? The youngster might develop a taste for sweater vests? He’d go prematurely gray? At least 20 sets of parents in Ohio are doing some soul searching at this hour, as their children deal with the consequences of being named after the disgraced Buckeyes coach. Some are defiant, at least on the surface. Here’s the father of 4-year-old Tressel Huffines:

“Do I have any regrets? No,” said Brent Huffines, 31, of Logan, who came up with the idea in 2007 and had to persuade his wife, Kattie, to go along.

“I think he got a raw deal, and she thinks he got a raw deal,” the longtime Buckeye fan said. “Tressel was 9-1 against Michigan, and I still respect him off the field.”

Read more of “20 kids in Ohio who are named after Jim Tressel are not amused by recent events” on NBCSports.com
6.14.11

Pryor a problem from start to finish

The rise in gasoline prices doesn’t seem so outrageous, considering the rate of inflation for buying an Ohio State quarterback. Just seven years ago, a booster handed Troy Smith an envelope with $500 inside and said, “Now I own him.” But what once bought a future Heisman Trophy winner apparently wouldn’t rent Terrelle Pryor — who never made all-conference once — for even a week.

foxsports.com
6/9/11

Clarett – who has since served multiple years in prison for transgressions committed after his time with the Buckeyes – spoke out on the Dan Patrick Show Wednesday in defense of the program he used to play for.

“There’s no secret regime, no secret congregation of people who sit around at Ohio State and give young guys money, who say, ‘Let me give you X amount of dollars or thousands of dollars,’ nothing like that,” Clarett said.

“Anything that any player goes and gets is all based on him and who he meets in the community,” he continued. “When he goes out and meets a fan or he meets somebody, he’s going to meet that person himself and create a relationship himself and do what he does. A coach has no control over what the young guys are doing.”

Read more of “Clarett defends Tressel, Ohio State” on BuckeyeGrove.com
6.9.11

For all the talk of the SEC’s improprieties, bent rules and under-the-table shenanigans in recent months, Mike Slive’s league looks pretty darn clean when compared to the messy state of affairs in Columbus, Ohio these days.  For those who haven’t seen it, an ESPN report has revealed an even bigger worry for the Ohio State football program – the possibility that players have been paid to sign memorabilia.

According to SportsByBrooks.com, the NCAA has notified OSU of “dozens of payments (Terrelle) Pryor received in past years from a Columbus sports memorabilia dealer.”  For one player to be on the receiving end of thousands of dollars of illegal payments is bad enough, but if the memorabilia dealer in question is tied to other Buckeyes — as is suspected by many in Columbus — it could be a body blow for OSU’s program.

Read more of ” There may be smoke in the SEC, but Ohio State is burning down” on MrSEC.com
6-8-11

Among the latest avalanche of allegations surrounding the Ohio State football program here’s the one that could be the kill shot, the one that, if true, should cause the NCAA to level sanctions against the Buckeyes far in excess of even the carpet bombing it delivered to USC last year.

The website SportsByBrooks reported that the NCAA enforcement staff has discovered “dozens of payments [quarterback Terrelle] Pryor received in past years from a Columbus sports memorabilia dealer. … the NCAA violations were discovered when the name of the local memorabilia dealer, Dennis Talbott, was seen on checks Pryor was depositing in his personal bank account.”

Read more of “Why the OSU case is worse than that of USC” on Rivals.com
6-8-11