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Vestless Buckeyes

HOW THE mighty has fallen.

A year ago at this time, Jim Tressel was the king of the Buckeye Nation. His Buckeyes were experiencing the best of times on the gridiron.

Tressel was riding the wave of a most successful nine-year run as OSU’s head football coach, losing just 21 games in that span, while leading the Buckeyes to three BCS championship games, including capturing the national title in 2002.

Making things even sweeter for Tressel was losing to hated-rival Michigan but once. Moreover, “Senator Tressel” was viewed as a class act and one of the good guys in a profession that often times is crowded with slimy individuals.

The son of a legendary college football coach, Tressel indeed was living the good life.

What a difference a year makes.

Tressel wakes up this morning as the former Ohio State head football coach.

University officials requested Tressel’s resignation. Monday morning he signed off on his Scarlet & Gray duties.

It was a resignation that needed to happen. It should have come earlier.

Tressel’s undoing was directly tied to “Tattoogate.” The scandal and how it played out is well documented now.

Tressel had knowledge of the wrongdoings.

He made a fatal mistake by keeping it under wraps and then sealed his fate by lying to the NCAA about having any knowledge about the misdeeds. Such action has landed Tressel and OSU in boiling hot water with the NCAA, slated for a hearing in August when nasty sanctions are expected to be doled out.

Tressel’s resignation may soften the hit Ohio State may incur, but only slightly. The NCAA recently beat up USC for less severe improprieties.

Luke Fickell will serve as interim head coach for the entire season. He will guide the Buckeyes the first five games without five suspended players, including star QB Terrelle Pryor. At worst, OSU should be 4-1 at that juncture, and enough talent is on hand to make a spirited run at another Big Ten crown, a title Tressel won seven of his 10 years in Columbus.

One thing is certain during these uncertain Buckeye times. That is, The Ohio State University and its celebrated football program will persevere and maintain their respective standards of excellence.

In 1978, doom and gloom shrouded Columbus after legendary Buckeye coach Woody Hayes punched a Clemson linebacker after he intercepted a pass to seal a Buckeye bowl game loss. Woody was fired the next day. A Buckeye icon had been jettisoned.

The Buckeyes rebounded in championship fashion. Woody’s replacement, Earle Bruce, maintained that high level of play, losing to USC by a single point a year later in the Rose Bowl, a game that decided the national title.

Tressel did great things as OSU’s head football coach. In these million dollar football times, however, coaches and their respective programs are under the microscope.

Winning is not enough.

Winning the proper way is. Tressel, unfortunately, failed to heed that mode of thinking.

Ohio State is one of the plum jobs in college football. Even if the NCAA hammers the Buckeyes with tough sanctions, some of the best coaches will still line up hoping to land the Buckeyes’ gig. The likely, and possibly best, fit is Urban Meyer.

Tressel’s troubles are a black eye to the university, but hardly lethal. The Buckeye Nation should rest assured that while storm clouds currently hover over OSU, brighter days will eventually arrive.

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