Some thoughts on the Ohio St./Tressel Notice of Infractions
by Paragon SC on Apr 26, 2011 7:00 PM PDT
in General NCAA
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PrintIn looking at the NOA that the NCAA sent to Ohio State one thing stands out...
This is all about Jim Tressel and NOT the Ohio State University.
Tressel is basically being called a liar while the school is hardly accused of anything....at least for now.
While we all know the charges against Tressel there are some things that stand out that the school should be concerned about.
Here is the notice of allegations.
Compliance should be an issue....
But will it?
Ohio State has boasted one of the biggest compliance offices in all of D-1 yet one of the things that got the ball rolling on this was the compliance office admitting to not properly educating their players about the basic bylaw of not selling ones property. In the rushed, cursory investigation Ohio State Compliance missed TWELVE e-mails between Tressel and Chris Cicero, the attorney that reached out to Tressel about the tattooed five in the Spring of 2010.
So much for being complete...and the NCAA keeps the "failure to monitor" or the "lack of institutional control" charge of the table?
Isn't the role of the compliance office to monitor?
Wasn't USC's compliance office hammered for not obtaining ONE signature for Reggie Bush's car?
I realize that it is next to impossible to make comparisons between the two cases but the NCAA made a big deal about compliance USC's woefully undermanned compliance office but to this point the same NCAA has said next to nothing about the biggest compliance office in all of D-1 lack of doing the basics when educating their players.
Ohio State Compliance was tipped off by Tressel in December about him being contacted regarding the players violations, yet Tressel stated it was by someone he couldn't recall?
Seems to me that the first logical place you would dig is in someones email or cellphone records. That is the first place I would look and yet they missed not one, not two or even three e-mails...no, they missed TWELVE.
That is pretty weak for one of the countries biggest compliance departments, especially one that has "self-reported" over 350 secondary violations under Jim Tressel.
Todd McNair was issued a show cause order because he didn't report (or should have known) Reggie Bush's relationship with Lloyd Lake. McNair didn't find out about this information until AFTER Reggie's last game at USC. McNair didn't lie, he just didn't report it. Tressel at first didn't report the violations of the tattooed five when contacted by Cicero but he then lied about it when he signed the NCAA's compliance form about not knowing about any violations.
Tressel's 10.1 violation is far worse than anything McNair was ever accused of, let alone cited for. Tressel had the ability to prevent ineligible players from participating, and never stopped it. Ohio State was able to then go on and win the Big Ten, and then play for a huge BCS payout, all because of his lies and obfuscation.
In other words, no ineligible player was purposefully allowed to play because of McNair's inaction. Tressel willfully hid the truth to let his star player(s) play through the season and then the school in concert with the Big 10 conference double-dealed the NCAA to delay their 5-game suspension in order to let them play in the Sugar Bowl.
And Ohio State will get to keep the money for that game.
Oh sure, the possibility of repeat offender status is still on the table but if they don't play that card then it is clear that NCAA is nothing more than a good ol' boy network that allows certain schools to skirt the rules. The NCAA clearly misinterpreted its own rules thus deferring the suspension to allow the tattooed five to play in a bowl game...I believe the term used was "unique opportunities".
Remeber what I said above about this not being about Ohio State but more about Tressel? The NCAA supposedly imputes the actions of the coach on to the University. If Ohio State is allowed to avoid the bulk of the consequences for Tressel's actions, then the NCAA needs to immediately change their own bylaws, which claims the coach IS the University in their eyes.
For what it is worth, here is Bruce Feldman's take...
- - -
The term often applied to all these cases of late is "apples and oranges". In the long view that is probably true. USC was hit on multiple fronts (bogus or not) and it was clear the NCAA sent a message because they didn't like our perceived arrogance.
To this point this is only a football issue at Ohio State...we had the Mayo mess, the Papdakis dinners, the extra coach on the payroll, the extra phone calls etc. The NCAA clearly looked for anything it could to pile up the charges against USC. But even with all that not one single person at USC did anything close to what Tressel is accused of doing.
How the Terrell Pryor relationship with Sarniak plays out will be another interesting thing to keep an eye on...I think there is more there that could come out.
The NCAA has already shown what they think about being lied to so it is hard to believe that they won't look at what Tressel did in the same light as a Dez Bryant or Bruce Pearl.
Most important to me is this (as I mentioned above)...if the NCAA sees the coach as an extension of the school then I have a hard time seeing how they COULD NOT level and LOIC charge against Ohio State, especially if they are in repeat offender territory. The head coach of the football team is the head compliance officer!
But I am not optimistic...
I actually think this bad for USC. Even though it looks like they fast tracked the Tressel charges, The NCAA will rule on our appeal before they hear Ohio State's case in August. I see the NCAA doing nothing to give USC relief (not that I thought they would to begin with) and then address Tressel's mess on its own "merits" giving Ohio State an out. You can see it being set up that way.
The missing LOIC charge does it for me. And there are rumors that Tressel is falling on his sword to protect the higher ups...take that for what it is worth.
Tressel is a dead man walking, but without an LOIC charge the institution will emerge virtually unscathed. And that is part of the crime...a lot of things happened on Tressel's watch (the Troy Smith issue and claims made by Maurice Clarett) and the basketball issues that could put Ohio State in a possible repeat offender status will probably be ignored, resulting in the same cronyism that we have seen time and again of the past six to eight months.
Once again the NCAA has no standards and remains unchecked...
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Once again...................................
F**K the nc2a!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end
To be stuck inside of Mobile
With the Memphis blues again
-R. Zimmerman
If the NCAA doesn't punish Ohio State
then it’s a travesty. The HC is the university, period. If Tressel is at fault, so is the university. I’m not wishing ill on OSU, just for some fairness out of the NCAA. Yeah like that is going to happen anytime soon.
Misery loves company... and other NCAA bylaws
If the decision on USC’s appeal is delayed due to the Ohio State investigation then, yeah… that’s bad for SC… but who’s really counting on any kind of reduction in the sanctions. Nothing has really changed except for the time passed. For Ohio State however… this means the NCAA will bring the hammer out just as they did for SC. Think about it… a Head Coach covered up overt NCAA violations, knowingly played ineligible athletes, then lied about all of it. Nor are these mere allegations that now need to be investigated and proven. All stands by self admission. Further, the NCAA now has it’s own standard of “should have known” regarding “high profile” players, the related issues of compliance, and that dreaded phrase “lack of institutional control”. But the real nail in the coffin is the charge of dishonesty by a head coach and by definition… THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY itself. The NCAA would reveal new heights of favoritism if not overt hypocrisy by NOT administering severe sanctions under these circumstances. The “institution” as well will find itself in a (sad to say) familiar rebuilding and recovery mode starting from the Head Coach on up… or down… take your pick.
trojanWar
Mikey did it
Once again, Garrett’s attitude during the NCAA investigation caused us more harm despite the nature of the violations. Being cooperative and forthcoming has a lot to do with how any investigation is handled.
Jean Valjean is my muse.
by DevilishTrojan21 on Apr 28, 2011 7:05 AM PDT reply actions
I read this opinion a lot:
Mikey did it
The problem is that neither you or anybody else who writes ths has any clue what Mike Garrett said or didn’t say to the NCAA. The ONLY public statements that USC ever issued about the matter stated that they were cooperating. The ONLY public statement that the NCAA ever issued about it (in the PIR) was that USC cooperated. No creible media sources has ever cited specific examples in which USC, as an institution, failed to cooperate with or was less than forthcoming with the NCAA.
I’m not defending Garrett, here, because I have know idea how he handled it. But if the NCAA is going to hammer USC more severely for not being forecoming or cooperative, then where is the smoking gun in their PIR report. Fact is, there isn’t one. And that’s because USC’s cooperation was acceptable. And athough there may be some wiggle room, the sanctions should be based on the findings of the investigation, not of the prejudices of the COI members.
Now…I don’t doubt that Garrett and the COI don’t like eachother much. No doubt, USC’s penalties are a reflection of this…which is another way of saying that the NCAA hammered USC because they didn’t like them…because Mike Garrett isn’t part of their good ‘ol boy’s club…not because of the findings of the investigation. And sadly, that’s abuse of power by a corrupt organization that places the agenda of its power-core members above of that of administering equitable justice to its nonpower-core members. The single greatest threat to the integrity of college sport is the NCAA itself…the only oganization that is charged with maintaining a level playing field for all participants, and which mocks this responsibilty by stacking the deck to the advantage of its own favorite sons.
NCAA report did say that USC was cooperative
I think the blame Garrett crowd is reaching for a justification for the severity of the sanctions. Blaming Garrett is the best explanation that I come up with.
A Quick Note for the Quitters
No comment from this thread will be deleted. You will have to own them when we get it turned around and beat Southern Cal. You will never ride the bandwagon when we come back. Not on BN. GO BRUINS.
by Nestor on Sep 4, 2010 9:24 PM CDT
Then it was Colonel Mustard with the kinfe in the library!
"As I read the decision by the NCAA, all I could get out of all of this was … I read between the lines and there was nothing but a lot of envy, and they wish they all were Trojans," Garrett said to cheers Thursday night at the San Francisco Airport Marriott.
I Didn’t lay the blame for the debacle at his doorstep. I’m merely saying that his attitude and statements afterwards MAY have been one of the aggravating factors.
Jean Valjean is my muse.
by DevilishTrojan21 on Apr 28, 2011 11:08 PM PDT up reply actions
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