Tressel’s in trouble at Ohio State; Urban Meyer to the rescue?
"Urban, you'd look swell in one of those sweater vests." (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
The NCAA has just accused Jim Tressel, who oversees the football program at The Ohio State University, of lying. Generally speaking, it doesn’t pay to lie to the NCAA. (Ask Bruce Pearl, who used to coach basketball at Tennessee.) There are those who believe Tressel, his stellar record notwithstanding, isn’t long for his job.
And then there’s Beano Cook, who believes Urban Meyer will coach Ohio State in 2012.
Beano Cook, who used to be a big man in college football circles, went on ESPN Radio last week and averred: “I’ve said on my Podcast. . . Urban Meyer will be the coach at Ohio State in 2012. That was my prediction and I stick by that prediction.”
Corporate synergy note: You can find Beano’s podcast, also on ESPN, by clicking here. And Urban Meyer, who once coached the Florida Gators, works for ESPN. At least he does until he decides to end his latest retirement.
A couple of things: Beano has been wrong before. (So have I.) He infamously predicted Ron Powlus would win two Heismans. (I infamously predicted Georgia would beat Florida and Urban Meyer in 2008. Also in 2010. I never learn.) That said, Beano could be onto something here.
Tressel is in trouble. He has already been suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season — Ohio State was ready to dock him two games, but Tressel requested three more — after failing to tell school officials he’d been given reason to believe his players had traded jerseys for tattoos. And Meyer is, among other things, a native Ohioan.
Born in Toledo. Grew up in Ashtabula. Played defensive back for the Cincinnati Bearcats. Started his coaching career at Ohio State. Has his Masters from Ohio State. Can do all the gestures to “Hang On Sloopy.” (Official rock song of the Buckeye State, FYI.)
Meyer does have one blip on his history. He outcoached Tressel and beat the hugely favored Buckeyes in the BCS title game in January 2007, giving rise to the notion that Ohio State couldn’t handle the big boys of the SEC. This was the notion Tressel was so desperate to debunk that he lobbied for those players suspended in the wake of the tattoo investigation to be allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl against Arkansas. (They played. OSU won, just.)
If Tressel does fall, there’d be no better choice as replacement. But one word of warning to Michigan fans: If your team should score a touchdown against the Meyer-coached Buckeyes and your players should feel the need to express their elation via an on-field dance … well, the Urbanator won’t like that. He won’t like that one little bit.
Oh, and one thing more: Readers have reminded me that The Ohio State University will meet The University of Georgia in 2020 and 2021. Mark your calendars, folks.
By Mark Bradley
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272 comments Add your comment
vince doolittle
April 25th, 2011
8:25 pm
so much for health and family issues???
ATL - Buckeye
April 25th, 2011
8:26 pm
Mark, love your work, I used to enjoy reading it when I still lived in the greatest city on the earth.
I am a current Columbus resident, OSU Alum, and real estate agent; word in our circles is that Urban is buying a place in Upper Arlington (the Ohio WASP-y equivalent of Buckhead) just minutes from OSU.
SAL
April 25th, 2011
8:37 pm
Enter your connemts here.
no falcon way
April 25th, 2011
8:45 pm
Meyer didn’t take the Notre Dame job when he was deciding between it and the job in Gainesville, after talking to former OSU coach Earl Bruce who told him he’d never be up for consideration for The Ohio State job if he was the head coach in South Bend. One of Urban’s former players at BGSU is now completing his residency in cardiothoracic surgery at The Cleveland Clinic. So, if he has any further heart trouble, he’ll be in (CJ’s) good hands, quite literally. Come back to Columbus, the Buckeyes need you, Coach Meyer.
Coffee Bluff DAWG
April 25th, 2011
8:45 pm
The last time Beano Cook made an accurate prediction was in 1989 when WV played for the NC. Don’t think he’s been right since…
Chris
April 25th, 2011
8:51 pm
Why is it that you only see OSU gear the day after they win something of half importance?
JB
April 25th, 2011
8:58 pm
2012? Mark Richt, who loves a pro offense, might be available
you can't fix stupid
April 25th, 2011
9:02 pm
@Chris:
Oh little UGA … importance and success in life measured only by stadium size and ugly clothes marketing.
outlaw
April 25th, 2011
9:02 pm
I think urban Meyer should go back to Florida where he belongs I’ve been an Ohio State fan for 45 years but if they bring Meyer in as a head coah Im done with Ohio State
Dawg 1
April 25th, 2011
9:07 pm
You have to admire Buckeye. He defends his boys to the end. Little doubt in my mind that much has been swept under the rug here and will not come out until later, long after a coaching change.
Don’t forget your boy Maurice Clarette. And please make the argument that this didn’t happen while at OSU. This guy was a problem while on campus from the time he got there. Heart warming story of Clarette returning from the scene of the crime or is it ‘to the scene of the crime’.
http://www.cleveland.com/buckeyeblog/index.ssf/2010/07/maurice_clarett_back_at_ohio_s.html
Not so sure Urban wants this – money isn’t a problem and there apparently really are ‘health issues here’. Many rumors about problems with the Florida program that Urban left behind. Seems a ‘natural’ for TV.
Barf
April 25th, 2011
9:23 pm
Is Ohio really 1-10 against the SEC, what a loser!
Barf
April 25th, 2011
9:26 pm
Ohio and Michigan what a couple of dumps no wonder millions have left
Truth
April 25th, 2011
9:37 pm
What pisses me off and what I have heard no media mention, is how Tressell and Ohio St lied their way to a $9 million dollar bowl. Are they giving the $ back?? Hell, the $250k fine for Tressell was only part of the bonus $ (that lying SOB) recieved for cheating to get to the Sugar bowl. Talk about a joke school, AD and President. Now, can you imagine if Mark Richt had allowed AJ Green to play – hiding his discretion through the season – and we made it to a BCS bowl? Answer, the NCAA would have never allowed him to play in the bowl game if they found out, games would have already been forfieted and on and on and on……
eddie long
April 25th, 2011
9:40 pm
if the penis don’t fit, you must acquit…
Skeezix
April 25th, 2011
9:42 pm
One more example of the sad state of affairs in college sports. We have too many ethically challenged coaches and administrators. No wonder so many of today’s youth are cynical and don’t know right from wrong. Even when some have a history of corruption, they just end up coaching elsewhere. Exhibit #1 –characters like Calapari ( who has left destruction whereever he has been) are still allowed to coach in the NCAA.
Otter
April 25th, 2011
9:49 pm
So um… I thought he retired to spend time with his family… does that happen more in Ohio than Florida?
Skeezix
April 25th, 2011
9:49 pm
Mark: Every time our nation’s college athletic programs are involved in graft and corruption –write about it!! Then write about it again! Keep pounding the message home that this mess has got to be cleaned up. Especially, get on the Presidents of the guilty colleges!
Grim Reaper
April 25th, 2011
10:04 pm
Mark Richt makes Tressel look like an amateur cheater.
Death penalty to UGA.
It Ain't Rocket Science
April 25th, 2011
10:05 pm
I think Tressel will either resign or be let go by OSU once the NCAA rules on it. I think the AD seems to be distancing himself from Tressel now. Shame this guy followed the way of so many big time coaches and sacrificed his integrity this way. Hope for OSU sake that it is settled quickly as the 2011 season is fast approaching. Is there an assistant at OSU capable of running the team for a year? The university shouldn’t be cited for lack of institutional control, since he lied to them as well.
trupert
April 25th, 2011
10:15 pm
Urban would be a great fit for OS and it would be a stress free job until he had to play a SEC team in the Bowl game.
Delbert D.
April 25th, 2011
10:16 pm
Meyer probably won’t consider The Ohio State University. There’s a reasonable possibility that Gee will dismantle the athletic department, following the Vanderbilt precedent.
Delbert D.
April 25th, 2011
10:18 pm
By the way, Beano really works. I never eat chili without it.
trupert
April 25th, 2011
10:22 pm
Reading these comments by all these Auburn and Alabama fans is like watching a episode of the Jerry Springer show, nothing but lies and false accucations pointed at others to try to bring everyone else down to their level.
Tree killer
April 25th, 2011
10:28 pm
Urban left Florida with his own problems, that was obvious. Odd how media covered it up.
And they were not health reasons folks. He showed up in Bristol 3 months later, so much for family time:) I will leave it at that.
But he could be headed to coach there, but not this year. Let them lose 4 games, then he will “come to the rescue”!!!!!
We need more Beano Cooks in this world
April 25th, 2011
10:30 pm
`
. . . . . Beano Cook is excellent, excellent.
.
Tree killer
April 25th, 2011
10:33 pm
Barf, yes they are1-10
And that 1 will be taken away….:) they cheated and have now admitted. Bet that dumb AD would
Ike to take those early comments back now….”I hope tressel doesn’t fire me”………….what a joke.
Wise Man
April 25th, 2011
11:05 pm
Take away the five ineligible Buckeye players,
and Ohio State is really 0-11.
David Granger
April 25th, 2011
11:21 pm
I didn’t think OSU was planning to fire Tressel. If they fired him after giving him a “pass” for the bowl game, they would have looked worse than if they kept him…and a big name program like that cannot afford to look stupid. And they could always excuse it away by claiming that he realizes it was a mistake, and has assured the administration that nothing like that will ever happen again…the usual BS that gets slung around in such cases. But this most recent charge…if the NCAA can substantiate it at all…might well give OSU the cover they need. (And, in fact, might just force them to get rid of him.)
I don’t see Urban Meyer returning to coaching for awhile. He’s got a few million socked away in the bank by now. And and he will make a good salary as a TV analyst just working during college football season, without all the hassle and worry of being a coach. The only reason he might, I think, is that he’s a native Ohioan.
I have to admit, it would be fun to see what he could do with Terrell Pryor…who fits his offensive scheme pretty good.
Mike
April 26th, 2011
1:16 am
Tressel will not be fired/resign and will be back through 2011 and beyond and Urban Meyer isn’t going anywhere – at least for another year or so …
SeaShark
April 26th, 2011
1:56 am
Jim Tressel is already suspended for the first five games of the 2011 football season at his own request, and Ohio State administrators will probably suspend him for the entire season before they respond to the NCAA letter. OSU will then review Tressel’s employment status after the season and the guess here is that Tressel will be fired, leaving a shameful legacy of cheating and one unearned national championship handed to the Buckeyes by the ref who made a phamtom pass interference call against Miami that allowed the Buckeyes to convert a game winning 5th down score. I frankly hope that OSU fires Tressel for “just cause” this week, which will allow the university to stop payment on his contract immediately.
The NCAA is not amused by Tressel’s intentional misconduct and deceit, and does not suffer lying fools gladly. The NCAA will pile on sanctions against OSU that will be much more severe than the university’s previously announced self imposed sanctions.
The Ohio State head coaching job is a career summit that will attract multiple A List candidates. Let the Urban Meyer speculation begin!
woody
April 26th, 2011
2:15 am
could it be….get over it you can’t beat an SEC team-go hand out some buckeyes for good luck.
Dennis Hall
April 26th, 2011
6:19 am
Just won? Typical Mark Bradley moronic comment…..win by 50 or it does not count? How many points do you need to win by for a victory to count? I’ll bet UGA wishes for a few more – Just wins, just like you do Mark.
Buckeye
April 26th, 2011
6:50 am
Crap. It wasn’t a dream………….
Paddy
April 26th, 2011
7:05 am
Getting a tip from Beno Cook is like believing the tooth fairy is really the Easter Bunny.
buckeye blast
April 26th, 2011
7:07 am
Urban Meyer will be the next coach at The Ohio State U—mark it down! OSU will come after meyer with $5 million per year plus a ton of benefits—he will not be able to turn down one of his dream jobs. OSU will be back in the BCS mix in 2 years after Meyer gets on campus. He won the national title in year 2 at florida–he’ll do the same at OSU. OSU–back on top!!!
Buckeye
April 26th, 2011
7:52 am
buckeye blast,
While I hate to disagree with a fellow Buckeye ( whose support, by the way, is a welcome addition to the board), I do not see Ohio State wanting nor Urbane Meyer accepting the position in the unlikely event it is offered.
Ohio State football is one thing – tradition. No one coach, quarterback or team is bigger than that tradition. Urbane is all about Urbane. Tressel came in understanding the tradition, honored it, beat the team up north and teased us with BCS wins and losses. The team up north, wisely, has brought in Hoke to once again honor the great traditions.
Urbane has been there, done that. Go back and watch the tapes of the NC loss and tell me you want Urbane Meyer in Scarlett and Gray.
O-H..
Buckeye
April 26th, 2011
7:54 am
woody,
funny,woody. really funny.
TommyJack
April 26th, 2011
7:56 am
Good. Yet one more reason to pull against OSU.
Buckeye
April 26th, 2011
8:09 am
Borrowed from an entry in the Columbus Dispatch blog but worth posting!
SAY IT AIN’T SO JIM
Some folks think Tressel’s a liar,
I say there’s smoke and there’s fire,
With Herbie now gone,
“For Sale” in his lawn,
Maybe Kirk’ll sell his house to U. Meyer?
UGASlobberknocker
April 26th, 2011
8:14 am
If he did take the job, how long before he has another “QUIT” attack? I would be afraid to hire him not knowing if he had any staying power. Plus even Meyer would know that if he took this job so soon after he quit at Fla his credibility would be shot.
Cant see it happening..although I do think Tressel is gone.
Whisky Breath
April 26th, 2011
8:38 am
Mark, aren’t you just repeating the obvious? This is why newspapers writiers are becoming relics.
You have to take the info, and have a decent viewpoint on the subject.
Chuck
April 26th, 2011
8:49 am
In a big city like Columbus, it takes a lot to get arrested, certainly more than “emerging from an alley” or not knowing the spelling of a middle name you deliberately don’t ever use, or even the heinous act of skinny dipping.
Like Tech, OSU benefits from livin in the umbrea of a large city with serious crime to worry about. Walking from one portent to another with a beer won’t be the subject if a sting like it is in Mayberry.
Pago Pago DAWG
April 26th, 2011
8:50 am
There were some reports that Coach Rod was visiting ohio state yesterday. Pretty funny.
Florida | MrSEC.com
April 26th, 2011
8:59 am
[...] saving-face outcome to (OSU’s) sorry mess.”Mark Bradley of The AJC wrote yesterday that “If Tressel does fall, there’d be no better choice as replacement.”And there are more. Across the web the train of speculation has left the station. Meyer to OSU [...]
icallbs
April 26th, 2011
9:01 am
I hope Ohio S keeps Tressel. This could only be more delicious were it Notre Dame.
npgator
April 26th, 2011
9:02 am
I thought Beano gave up the booze!
npgator
April 26th, 2011
9:05 am
I hate to say it but if the Buckeyes get the same Urban Meyer that coached Florida last year – they can have him.
PMC
April 26th, 2011
9:10 am
Can we just dispel all the “oh we care so much about the kids” BS?
It’s a bottom line buisniess and Tressel has been awesome at his primary job.
We know why he lied to win. He did it again in December and everyone but the NCAA knew it then. Why? So that the 5 could play and they could have a chance to win the sugar bowl.
Winning and bringing glory to the school is the primary job of a head football coach and it’s the only thing that will allow a coach to keep his job.
Cheating is rampant everywhere, we know this because the rulebook keeps expanding and yet the policing takes forever.
I don’t think he should be fired if the school still wants him to stay, but he shouldn’t have contact with his team at all (none of this only off on Saturday crap) for at least a calendar year (because a player would lose all eligibility for much less than this) he should be fined that years total salary (not to be paid by the school) and all wins that occured using the illegal players should be wiped out as is the precedent. That’s the only thing that will allow for ample deterrant.
It wasn’t a recruiting violation so I see no reason to ban postseason, TV or scholarships on the school. They have to hammer Tressel though, otherwise the floodgates are open.
Tosh.No
April 26th, 2011
9:11 am
Wow, a Buckeye fan trying to talk garbage to GA fans knowing the axe is about to fall on their sub par program. That is too funny. Thanks Buckeye, that joke made my morning. the last time ohio state was relevant was long before I was born.
PMC
April 26th, 2011
9:12 am
He should lose all interaction with the school and with college football entirely for at least a calendar year. That will give him plenty of time to write another book on ethics.