Ohio State Should Not Fire Jim Tressel

First, I'm not an Ohio State fan. So, I believe I'm objective. Today, the NCAA sent a notice of allegations to Ohio State University that the head football coach Jim Tressel basically lied to the NCAA for denying that he knew off any players committing rules violations on a compliance form. All this stems from Ohio State players selling memorabilia to a tattoo parlor for tattoos and discounts on tattoos. In essence, if true, the allegations mean that Tressel knew the players had committed offenses and were ineligible. He then put them on the field.

Though the allegations are not new, they are serious charges by the NCAA. So should Ohio State fire head coach Jim Tressel? Well, it's not that easy. Look at the all the great things that Jim Tressel has done for Ohio State. Under his Ohio State career, the Buckeyes went 106-22. Routinely beat nemesis Michigan. Oh, they won the national championship in 2002. What was he trying to do by not reporting the players actions? I believe Tressel was protecting his players. It's not like the players received exorbitant compensation. Nor is this anything like the players using steroids. The actions were minor. We're talking about tattoos. So, I don't think there were any major advantages for the football team.

On the other hand, these were serious rules violations. The players did receive compensation. And I can't believe that Tressel didn't even bother going to the compliance officer, at least for advice. To me that means he knew and decided to sit on it.

Ohio State should just suck it up and endure. Tressel brought the program back to glory. Yes, what he did is an embarrassment to the university. But suffering the punishment the NCAA will give to the university and issuing apologies especially by Tressel will suffice. Firing Tressel won't alter the violations. The university should look at all the great things he's done and weigh that in deciding what to do with Jim Tressel. The scales should be in Jim Tressel's favor.