Ohio State self-reports violations by Jim Tressel to NCAA, suggests fine and suspension.
Jim Tressel
Saying he wanted to protect his players and observe a request for confidentiality, Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said Tuesday he decided to essentially do nothing when he was first notified by a central Ohio attorney last April that two of his players had sold memorabilia to a local tattoo artist.
Because he failed to pass on that information to his superiors or OSU compliance officials, the university deemed he had violated provisions of NCAA Bylaw 10.1.
The transgressions of those two players and four others eventually came out in December when that group was issued suspensions for the 2011 season.
As part of its self-report, the university announced it has self-imposed the following sanctions on Tressel: a public reprimand and apology; a two-game suspension; attendance at a compliance seminar; and a $250,000 fine.
It was unclear which of Tressel's assistants may serve as the interim head coach for OSU’s first two games against Akron and Toledo. The NCAA reserves the right to accept the self-report and the penalties or add to them.
It was originally reported that Tressel would not be involved with coaching during spring football or the summer camp, however those sanctions were not part of OSU’s self report.
“I am sorry and disappointed this happened,” Tressel said. “At the time the situation occurred, I thought I was doing the right thing.” Gotta win those games, right Jim?
OSU athletic director Gene Smith and OSU president Gordon Gee joined Tressel at an evening press conference where the violations and sanctions were announced.
The university became aware of this situation on Jan. 13, while reviewing information on an unrelated legal issue. The university's Office of Legal Affairs notified the appropriate institutional officials and an investigation began immediately. After conducting additional fact finding, including questioning Tressel, the university notified the NCAA on Feb. 3.
"I am disappointed that we find ourselves in this situation. I want to thank the NCAA for being responsive and working collaboratively with us on this case. We ask Buckeye Nation to be patient as we resolve this matter and we thank them for all the support that they provide to our programs," Smith said. "I think everyone knows how I feel about Jim Tressel. There is no better coach at developing young people than Jim."
Smith will serve as chairman of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament committee the rest of this week in Indianapolis. He said he had hoped that OSU’s internal investigation had been completed before he left for Indianapolis on Wednesday. But when YahooSports.com broke the story about Tressel’s alleged violation Monday night, the timetable was escalated and OSU made its self-report to the NCAA today.
“There was no question we had a leak,” Smith said. “We wanted to be responsive as we could. My goal all along was to try and get it done prior to my departure. We had hoped by the end of the week to have this self-report done by the end of the week.”
Smith was in New York City at an NCAA publicity event Monday night when the news broke.
“We were able to get (the report) done today and we submitted it to the NCAA,” he said.
Smith scoffed at any notion that the 58-year-old Tressel – who has won 106 games, seven Big Ten titles, nine Michigan games and six bowl games in 10 years – faced termination.
“There was speculation about him being terminated,” Smith said. “That was pure speculation. This case, in my view, does not warrant it. If you look at the body of work this man has put into this university and his profession and you think about who he is, there is no question in my mind that his decision was from the heart.
“Jim Tressel is a coach of young men and we support him 100 percent. There was no intent in what he did. He is our coach and we trust him implicitly.”
Gee was asked if the thought of terminating Tressel’s contract – valued at $3.5 million per year – ever crossed his mind. His response: “Are you kidding? Let me be very clear: I’m just glad that the coach doesn’t dismiss me.” Translation if I fired Jim Tressel, I'm a goner.
"This university president is committed to this coach,” Gee added. “Jim Tressel has devoted the past decade of his life to this university. He's had great success on the football field and off.
"The university has responded as rapidly as possible and worked with the NCAA to ensure full cooperation. Coach Tressel has acknowledged he has erred and takes full responsibility for his actions. During the past decade, he has devoted his life to the university, the students on his team, and so many others in the larger community. As an NCAA member school, we are committed to doing everything possible to comply with NCAA rules and bylaws."
Gee said he and Tressel met for three hours at his house to discuss this issue.
“I asked him questions that none of you would even dare to ask,” Gee said. “We have been through everything to make sure there is no kind of smoking gun and we’re just going on from there.” And I thought the emails were the smoking gun, you moron.
The Timeline
This whole episode can best be described as a complicated situation.
As was revealed in December, six OSU players – Terrelle Pryor, Boom Herron, DeVier Posey, Mike Adams, Solomon Thomas and Jordan Whiting – were found to have sold some of their OSU obtained memorabilia and equipment to a central Ohio tattoo artist at some point in 2009. That tattoo artist was Ed Rife, who subsequently was subject to a federal investigation.
A central Ohio attorney contacted Tressel in April 2010 regarding the players’ ties to Rife. Those contacts came via e-mails between the attorney and Tressel. The e-mails outline the memorabilia that was traded and contain other details regarding the OSU players.
"Last spring, I received some e-mails regarding an ongoing drug trafficking case,” Tressel said. “They outlined some of the parties involved and they were of tremendous concern to me. We get a lot of e-mails ... but this one was obviously different. It kind jogged in my mind some of the toughest losses I’ve had in coaching.
“I’ve had a player murdered. I’ve had a player incarcerated. I’ve had a player get taken into the drug culture and lose his opportunity for a productive life. It was obviously tremendously concerning. Quite honestly, I was scared. Two of our current players were mentioned in the e-mails.”So coach, were you scared FOR your players or because you might lose a few games if you disclosed?
However, Tressel never passed those e-mails on to Smith or OSU compliance officials.
“Admittedly, I never gave quite as much thought to the NCAA (violations) as I read it,” he said. “My focus was on the young people. Bull****e.
"Also in those e-mails, it was very emphatic with the nature of federal investigation that there be confidentiality. The tenor as I read them … was it was serious and confidentiality was critical." Uh Coach, how about the first email you received two weeks prior that contained no mention of confidentiality? Also, I am not familar with the "coach's privilege" I am however familiar with breach of contract and I believe JT's requires disclosure of "ANY POSSIBLE" violation.
None of the players were suspended or missed game time for the Buckeyes as they embarked on a 12-1 regular season where they won a sixth straight Big Ten championship. And, although the players were suspended for the first five games of 2011, they were permitted to play against Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl. Each of them played an integral role as the Buckeyes won that game 31-26.
Tressel was asked how he could justify playing players if he knew their eligibility had been jeopardized.
“Well, I was in a situation where you’ve got two guys who can play who are out there doing the practicing and they’re eligible and all of those things,” the coach said. “There was another situation going on and in my mind it was larger than anything. So as not to disrupt that, a focus of mine was not to interfere with a federal investigation.This is just red, white and blue, honest to god hero **** right here.
“If you all of a sudden sit down players who have earned the right to play, there are a whole new set of questions that are asked.”
In December, things took a turn when OSU officials were notified how the probe of Rife’s activities involved the six players who were subsequently suspended.
“When December came and we were given information from the attorney general’s office that six of our current student-athletes were involved, that was discouraging,” Tressel said. “It was encouraging, though, that there were no criminal acts of any kind. That was a huge relief.Screw the NCAA, its all about staying out of jail and getting that tOSU sheepskin.
“I knew at that point we would have NCAA ramifications and we would deal with that immediately, which we did.”
Smith said members of OSU’s Office of Legal Affairs discovered the e-mails from and to the coach on Jan. 13. A new inquiry was launched and Tressel was questioned by OSU officials Jan. 16 and jointly by NCAA officials on Feb. 8.
“When we came back from the bowl game, we discovered that there were some e-mails that Coach Tressel had that revealed he had some prior knowledge regarding the matter with our student-athletes,” Smith said. “We sat down with Coach Tressel and he shared why he did not share those e-mails.”
Smith said OSU retained The Compliance Group to serve as an outside consultant on this matter.
“President Gee was out of the country at the time, so we didn’t go too far with it until he returned,” Smith said. “As he returned, we shared with him immediately what we had and developed our strategy from there.”
Ultimately, Tressel discovered that by keeping quiet last spring he had also broken NCAA bylaws.
"An NCAA violation occurred on my part ... I learned that I probably needed to go to the top legal counsel person at the university to get help on how to handle criminal investigations and confidentiality and the protection you need within the process,” he said.
"Obviously, I'm disappointed this happened at all. I take my responsibility for what we do at Ohio State very seriously. I am saddened by the fact I let some people down and didn't do things as well as I could have.
“I am pleased that the young people involved are safe. They’re not involved in any criminal activity. They are all in college and they’re all going to graduate from Ohio State. To me, that’s what it’s all about.” Again, hero **** here. Molder of men.
Smith said he, Tressel and Gee could not go into too much detail on the case as it remains pending with the NCAA.
The appeal process for the suspended players is ongoing, Smith said. OSU is hopeful it can get the five-game suspensions knocked back to four or fewer games.
