A Little Late to the Game...

So I know the news about Jim Tressel resigning happened nearly 2 weeks ago, but I've been quite busy. Despite my busy schedule, I have been able to listen to all of the conversations being had on the situation and how it has continued to develop as more information has come out about the coach, players, and more specifically Terrel Pryor.

As a Michigan fan there's lots of different ways you might think I could come at this subject, but I would like to come at it from the perspective of a coach and parent. I'm really not that interested in how all that has happened and is happening in Columbus will affect the Michigan/Ohio State rivalry. There will always be a rivalry between the two schools and there will always be stretches of good and bad for each school - the Cooper years, the RichRod years, etc. The potential hammer that could come down on Ohio State University will only be a minor blip in the overall rivalry.

What really interests me about this story is all the speculation about why Tressel lied to the NCAA in December and why he didn't report the possible infractions to his compliance department when the information was thrust upon him in April of 2010. A lot of people have used the argument that he was looking out for his players, that he had their backs. How in the world is he looking out for his players by not teaching them to take responsibility for their actions? As coaches, we are asked to help shape the lives of the athletes that come before us. We teach them how to work, work together, win, lose, and most importantly in my mind, to put forth everything you can to always be able to walk away knowing you did everything you possibly could to succeed. When you see one of your athletes trying to take short cuts, side step rules, cheat, etc., that is when it is MOST important to step in and teach them the right lesson.

Most people will say that the actions of the players off the field didn't have an affect on the play on the field. This couldn't be further from the truth in my mind. When Tressel failed to act as the coach and upstanding citizen he has always preached to be when given the information on his star players, he not only failed to teach those players the lessons I mentioned above, he also made it clear that star athletes get star treatment. When you as a coach start giving "star" athletes longer leashes and more privileges this undermines the entire team concept. Now don't get me wrong, all athletes are different and any good coach knows you can't treat them all the same. However, this does not mean that they should be held to a different standard. It should not have mattered in the least that one of the players mentioned in the emails to Jim Tressel was his star quarterback, he should have just seen that players - void of status - were committing violations that could affect his team and taken it directly to his compliance office. Once players know that their treatment is based on star status you begin to lose trust between players and coaches. And I think we have all seen over the past couple of weeks, that the locker room on the Ohio State Football team was falling apart. Most have blamed this on Terrel Pryor, but Jim Tressel deserves as much blame by allowing his star player to feel he could do whatever he wanted without consequence.

Now the other side that I mentioned was as a parent. I have 3 kids and I have no idea if any of them will be collegiate athletes. I do know that if any of them do decide and are able to play sports in college I will want them to have a coach that will continue to teach and instill in them the qualities and lessons I have been teaching them as a parent. I would want a coach that is willing to teach them the reality of their actions and that there are consequences to all actions. A coach that will have no reservations about how to act when faced with a difficult situation that could affect their team and University. A coach that knows no one is above the team and University. If I had been the parent of one of the players mentioned in the original scandal I would have been extremely disappointed in my child AND in the coach that promised to watch over my child. Jim Tressel promised those parents he would watch their children and teach them to be honest, hard working, and respectable men. And when he turned a blind eye he failed those boys and their parents.

So now Ohio State is left with a mess to likely be cleaned up by the NCAA. By all accounts Jim Tressel was a wonderful coach, but if you fail to live up to your promises and stop practicing what you preach there are bound to be consequences.