College Football Capsules: Big 12 meets amid much less turmoil
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The future of the Big 12 was in question when the conference held its spring meetings a year ago.
But with the promise of a rich new football television contract which commissioner Dan Beebe delivered in the form of a $1.17 billion deal with Fox, the league held together except for Colorado and Nebraska.
The new TV deal averages about $9 million per school for the 13-year life of the contract. Before, they had been averaging about $1.8 million.
Now, as the trimmed-down conference opened its four-day gathering in the same luxury hotel as last year, there is an entirely different tone. Gone is last year's quarrelsome tone of crisis management. In its place seems an atmosphere of optimism.
The most urgent question last year was whether the Big 12 would break up. This year's urgent questions include when to stage the men's and women's basketball tournaments and whether to sponsor championships in equestrian and rowing.
In addition, they're talking about final adjustments in the rules and bylaws to accommodate 10 schools instead of 12.
"There are fewer media people here than last year. We couldn't get through that hallway last year," Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione said with a grin.
Castiglione, the chairman of the Big 12's athletic directors, said the main object of this year's meetings is to focus on the future.
"If anything, today we came in focusing on the things that are going to make us stronger going forward," he said. "We've already dealt with a variety of transitional issues through the last 11 months. We're tweaking, fine-tuning if you will, some of those changes, formats and structures. A few changes to the manual, championship events, all of those types of things."
One of the more important changes still to be completed is rewriting the conference bylaws, specifically to tighten up language pertaining to penalties for withdrawal from league membership. Before a compromise was reached, Nebraska and the league appeared to be headed toward litigation on that point. Finally, the two sides agreed that the Huskers would be penalized $9.25 million for going to the Big Ten.
"A lot of it is just operational to go from 12 to 10 in a corporate bylaw structure," Beebe said. "Some of it is going to be more functional in terms of we're going to have a close review of what we've gone through last year in the withdrawal provisions, to make sure they're appropriate, how they should continue. It wasn't a secret. We had a dispute about that. We settled the dispute and everybody moved on. But those provisions were put in place in a different time and era and in a different legal environment."
Although it's not on the formal agenda, there's also certain to be plenty of conversation about the burgeoning scandal at Ohio State and the abrupt resignation of football coach Jim Tressel.
"Any time one of these situations happens, it's a big teaching moment for all of us about whether we are conducting our programs appropriately, whether there are the kind of measures that are going on at our campuses that can help detect what's going on," Beebe said. "On every campus, every time Ohio State or any of these things come on, they say, 'OK, what's going on here and how are we protected against this?' Or an AD telling the coaches, 'If you ever have a situation like this, by God, here is the way you need to react to it.'
But there's been no formal discussion about that."
Another topic will be whether to increase the amount of scholarship aid to athletes to include the full cost of attendance, something the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference have recently raised. There will be no formal action since such change can only be made by the NCAA.
Kansas defensive coach Torbush retires, has cancer
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Carl Torbush, defensive coordinator at Kansas and former head coach at Louisiana Tech and North Carolina, is retiring after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The school said Tuesday that Torbush, who also served as KU’s linebackers coach, will be having surgery soon and expects a full recovery.
Torbush was one of the first assistants Turner Gill hired after he was hired as head coach following the the 2009 season. Torbush has also been defensive coordinator at North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas A&M.
"As far as where I’m at, it’s a tough time," he said at a news conference on Tuesday. "I’m 59½ years old. Seems like yesterday, you blink an eye and you’re 21, all of a sudden you’re 59½ and wondering where it all went.
"I will say that I’m still playing baseball, so I’m pretty fortunate in that. I had a situation health-wise that got checked, and it is a low-grade prostate cancer that me and my family are going to have to deal with. I just felt like I wanted to get this cleared up. I don’t know how long it’s going to take to get it cleared up, but I’ve got a strong faith and I have no doubt that it’s going to work out the way it’s supposed to work out."
Gill said he was "shocked and surprised" to learn of Torbush’s illness.
"When you’re talking about health, you have to put all the other selfish stuff away," he said. "I was more concerned about his health and making sure that he was going to be OK. Once he got to explain what was going on, I understood that he was going to be all right from that. He’s a guy that’s not just a coaching friend, he’s a guy that I’ve gotten to know over many years."
Torbush said Kansas is in good hands.
"First of all, the opportunity to be at the University of Kansas has been a great thrill for me and I don’t have any doubt that this program is in great hands with coach Turner Gill," he said. "Just like I’ve said over a period of time, that is the reason that I came to KU originally, and I still firmly believe that after I’ve been here a year."
Gill said assistant coach Vic Shealy would be the new defensive coordinator and Buddy Wyatt would be co-defensive coordinator.
"Those two will work together. Carl was definitely a top guy when I tried to put together a staff. He is a guy who has been a great friend of mine, a great mentor and a spiritual person for me. He’s been a great person for college football and great for the University of Kansas."
Ohio State
Pryor’s cars now focal point of NCAA probe
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — One day after coach Jim Tressel's forced resignation for lying about Ohio State players receiving improper benefits, the focus has shifted to the investigation of star quarterback Terrelle Pryor and his succession of used cars.
The salesman who put Pryor behind the wheel of several vehicles said in a sworn affidavit released by Ohio State on Tuesday that he didn't offer any special deals to Buckeyes.
"The deals that I did for Ohio State student-athletes were no different than any of the other 10,000-plus deals that I've done for all my other customers," Aaron Kniffin said in the statement.
Tressel's 10-year reign as coach of the Buckeyes ended in disgrace Monday as he was forced to step down for breaking NCAA rules. He knew players received cash and tattoos for autographs, championship rings and equipment and did not tell anyone at Ohio State or the NCAA what he knew for more than nine months. NCAA rules — and Tressel's contract — specify that he must disclose any and all information about possible violations.
Pryor, the highest profile recruit of Tressel's 25-year coaching career, is one of five Buckeyes who have already been suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season for taking money and tattoos from local tattoo-parlor owner Edward Rife, who pleaded guilty last week to federal drug trafficking and money-laundering charges.
Ohio State confirmed that the NCAA continues to look into potential violations.
"I can tell you that obviously you have an open investigation," Ohio State spokesman Jim Lynch said Tuesday. "The university and the NCAA are working jointly to review any new allegations that come to light. We're going to continue to do so until their investigation wraps up."
The Columbus Dispatch has reported that the NCAA and Ohio State are investigating more than 50 vehicle purchases by Buckeyes players, family members and friends over the past. Sports Illustrated, citing a source close to the investigation, reported that Pryor, who will be a senior this fall, might have driven as many as eight cars in his three years in Columbus.
Even though Pryor's vehicles have been a focal point of the investigation for weeks, that doesn't mean he has been riding a bicycle around the city.
Pryor drove up to a players-only team meeting on Monday night in a coal-black Nissan 350Z sports car with 30-day plates. The automotive information site Edmunds.com lists a recent, used 350Z, which it calls "a proper sports car for the everyman," as costing between $16,000 and $27,000.
Pryor was stopped three times for traffic violations over the past three years, each time driving cars that were owned by Kniffin or a Columbus used-car dealership where he worked, the Dispatch has reported. Kniffin, owner Jeff Mauk of Jack Maxton Chevrolet, Inc., and Jason Gross of Auto Direct Columbus, Inc., each provided affidavits to Ohio State officials earlier this month.
They said that all transactions associated with an Ohio State athlete were cleared through Ohio State's NCAA compliance department.
"If the OSU Compliance Department approved the transaction terms, the transaction would be finalized and the vehicle would be delivered to the customer," Mauk said in his statement.
Even though the dealerships have dozens of signed jerseys on display in their showrooms, Kniffin and the dealerships said that was not part of any deal.
"OSU student-athletes weren't given any enticements to buy the car at my dealership," Kniffin said. "At no time did memorabilia come into play when it came time to negotiate a deal or buy a car. I was never given any memorabilia from a student-athlete in exchange for a car deal."
Late on Monday night, Sports Illustrated reported that the memorabilia-for-tattoos violations actually stretched back to 2002, Tressel's second season at Ohio State, and involved at least 28 players — 22 more than the university has acknowledged. Those numbers include, beyond the six suspended players, an additional nine current players as well as other former players whose alleged wrongdoing might fall within the NCAA's four-year statute of limitations on violations.
After the article's release, athletic director Gene Smith issued a statement.
"During the course of an investigation, the university and the NCAA work jointly to review any new allegations that come to light, and will continue to do so until the conclusion of the investigation," he said. "You should rest assured that these new allegations will be evaluated in exactly this manner. Beyond that, we will have no further comment."
Smith and Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee declined comment Tuesday when contacted by The Associated Press.
Since Tressel resigned, Ohio State is not required under terms of his contract to offer a buyout or any severance package. Tressel made around $3.5 million a year.
"I'm not aware of any buyout," Lynch said. "But we are attending to the details of the transition."
Luke Fickell, an assistant coach, will be interim coach until Ohio State hires a replacement for Tressel after the 2011 season.
The turmoil at Ohio State comes at the same time PGA Tour pros are arriving at Jack Nicklaus' Muirfield Village Golf Club in suburban Dublin for Thursday's first round of the Memorial Tournament.
Nicklaus, a standout golfer at Ohio State while Woody Hayes was the football coach in the early 1960s, was asked about Tressel's downfall.
"Well, obviously the coverup was far worse than the act," Nicklaus said Tuesday. "And once you got the coverup, it became a situation where Jim had to say some things that turned out to be that weren't exactly truthful. And so that's where he got himself in trouble."
Nicklaus said that now that the NCAA is continuing to investigate, almost any result is possible.
"Once one of these things happens, by the time they get through digging they're going to find whether somebody had a hangnail someplace or not, whether somebody replaced it improperly," Nicklaus said.
-- Rusty Miller
On College Football: Tressel's fall a warning to other coaches
In a profession that provides little in the way of job security, Jim Tressel was about as comfortable as a college football coach could get.
The man in the sweater vest won 83 percent of his games in 10 seasons with Ohio State. He went 9-1 against Michigan, won seven Big Ten titles and a national championship.
But when he committed the cardinal sin of college sports, covering up an NCAA violation in his program, none of his success on the field could save him.
While NCAA President Mark Emmert has talked tough in recent months about cracking down on rule-breakers with penalties severe enough to deter future wrongdoers, maybe Tressel's departure from Ohio State will help send that message.
"It's a tough situation for Jim and his family, but also I think if we're going to find anything good in this it can be a wake-up call for (other coaches)," said former Baylor coach Grant Teaff, the president of the American Football Coaches Association.
"There are a myriad of rules. There's no excuse for any of us missing those rules. It's not an easy task, but it never has been. It's always been a challenge but probably rightly so, because it's an important job."
Tressel was, of course, a trending topic at the Southeastern Conference meetings in Destin, Fla., on Tuesday, with reporters looking for reaction from his fellow coaches.
When a guy like Tressel goes down, other coaches pay particular attention.
"I know all this stuff that's happening at Ohio State, every other coach out there, if ever presented that situation, I am sure they will think about how to handle it," Tennessee coach Derek Dooley said.
Or as Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said: "There's no question there's lessons to be learned."
The main lesson being: Don't think for a second you are A) above the rules or B) won't get caught breaking them. Oh, and C) no matter how noble your intentions might be, if you break the rules it could cost you your job.
Teaff said following the rules and doing what's best for a player are not always the same thing.
"It may appear you're not acting in the best interest of your student-athletes, but the rules may overshadow that particular feeling you may have," Teaff said.
There were more than a few skeptics when Tressel said back in March — during a news conference that in retrospect was the beginning of the end for him — that he was trying to protect his players by sitting for months on an email that tipped him off to the memorabilia-for-tattoos problem.
It certainly seemed more as if Tressel was protecting his chances to win another Big Ten title. But if ever there was a coach who could have absorbed a 7-5 season, it was Tressel.
"There's definitely pressure to win," Petrino said, "but the relationship you build with your athletic director and your compliance and your chancellor is we're all in it to win, we're all in it to live by the rules and we all know that when one violation happens or two violations, I can walk into our athletic director's office and our director of compliance and say, 'Hey, look, we made a mistake here.' And you self-report it and you live by what happens with that."
It was Petrino's Arkansas team that Ohio State played in the Sugar Bowl, where Tressel was allowed to use five key players, including star quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who were suspended for the first five games of the 2012 season for receiving improper benefits.
Ohio State beat the Razorbacks 31-26.
Petrino said he wanted to play Ohio State at its best, but added: "There's no question that I don't understand how they were eligible to play in the game. I just don't and I never will."
But that doesn't mean he was happy to see the scandal come back to bite Tressel.
"I can't say that I was surprised, but I feel for him. When something like that happens, you never like to see it," he said. "I feel for him, his family. It affects a lot of other people within the state, the university, so feel for all of those people."
Alabama coach Nick Saban said he and Tressel came up through the coaching ranks together.
"I feel like I guess if you were in the military you would say, 'We lost a fine comrade in this whole thing,'" Saban said. "I don't know the details of all the circumstances and situation there and certainly don't want to comment on that. But certainly there were mistakes made and whatever and there are going to be consequences for it. I still think this is one of the finest people in our profession and certainly hate to see what's happening happen."
Ralph D. Russo covers college football for The Associated Press.
Meyer, Stoops brothers: Get ready for name game
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — No sooner had the ink dried on Jim Tressel's resignation than speculation had already started about a successor as Ohio State's coach.
It's got to be Urban Meyer, right? The Stoops brothers — Bob at Oklahoma and Mike at Arizona — are both Ohio natives. They'd love to have the job.
Then there are others with a Buckeye pedigree: Nebraska coach Bo Pelini, who used to be a defensive back at Ohio State; or maybe former NFL coach Jon Gruden, also an Ohio native.
Let the carousel begin. Someone joked that it would be perfect symmetry if Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee — the man who mocked the BCS hopes of Boise State and TCU — hired one of their coaches, either the Broncos' Chris Petersen or the Horned Frogs' Gary Patterson. Little Sisters of the Poor, indeed.
Tressel's startling departure from Ohio State on Monday, propelled by an NCAA investigation for improper benefits and cars and tattoos, shocked many. But for some Buckeyes fans, finding a new coach eased the pain of lamenting the loss of the old one.
In the news release announcing Tressel's resignation, Ohio State said, "Recruitment for a new head coach — which is expected to include external and internal candidates — will not commence until the conclusion of the 2011-2012 season."
Luke Fickell, a previously anonymous linebackers coach, will be in charge of the Buckeyes this fall. Beyond that? It's anybody's guess.
Despite playing it politically correct on Monday in a statement, Meyer will probably be the people's choice. After all, he's won two national championships — the first came against Ohio State — and is now working for ESPN. He has Ohio ties, as he coached at Bowling Green before going to Utah and Florida.
"I am committed to ESPN and will not pursue any coaching opportunities this fall," he said. "I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the people at ESPN this spring and remain very excited about my role with the network this fall. Jim Tressel has been a respected friend and colleague for a long time. I wish Jim and his family the very best now and in the future."
Buckeyes fans immediately zoned in on two of the 65 words in that statement: THIS FALL. Since Ohio State isn't hiring anyone until January or so, Meyer's comment was the perfect non-denial denial.
No one wants a short-term solution, anyhow. Keep in mind only four men have been an Ohio State head coach over the past 60 years.
Woody Hayes was born and raised a Buckeye, and took the job after serving as coach at Miami of Ohio. He spent 28 years as Ohio State's coach and they built statues for him after he won 205 games from 1951-1978. But he left in disgrace, fired for punching a Clemson player during the 1978 Gator Bowl.
Next up was Earle Bruce, a former Hayes disciple who won at least nine games every year for nine seasons and still got canned because prominent boosters didn't think he had enough pizazz and didn't court them enough.
John Cooper, a Tennessee native, had been the coach at Tulsa and Arizona State and was hired largely because he had beaten Ohio State's archrival, Michigan, in a Rose Bowl. But people never considered his Southern drawl all that charming and they truly despised that he was 2-10-1 against Michigan and just 3-8 in bowl games. He is considered "Exhibit A" why it's bad karma for Ohio State to think outside the box ... or even think outside the state's borders.
Tressel seemed like such a perfect fit. He had won four Division I-AA titles while at Youngstown State and was a former assistant coach under Bruce. He was welcomed back with open arms and provided the Buckeyes' first national championship in 34 years in only his second season. But the next eight seasons are most memorable for the exploits of bad boys Maurice Clarett, Troy Smith and the Tattoo Five.
Now, once again, Ohio State is seeking a football savior.
The Stoops brothers and Pelini are all from the Youngstown area, but they already have jobs. Gruden was considered briefly when Tressel got the job, and has shown no great interest in returning to the sideline, particularly at the college level.
It's debatable who will want the job if the NCAA issues additional penalties for Tressel's problems, in addition to what the sport's sanctioning body finds out about all the players who were getting used cars at steep, steep discounts.
Someone joked that they had seen a bumper sticker on Monday that said: "(John Cooper) in '12: Tanned, Rested and Ready."
With a year to decide, that might not be the most outlandish suggestion you'll hear.
-- Rusty Miller
Football scandal puts focus on Ohio State president
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — In the wake of football coach Jim Tressel's stunning resignation, attention is now focusing on the job security of Ohio State President Gordon Gee and athletic director Gene Smith.
Both Gee and Smith offered unwavering, and in the case of Gee, gushing-to-the-point-of-embarrassing support for Tressel at a March 8 news conference.
Since then, it's become clearer that the NCAA may take a hard line on the university's transgressions, and Tressel's resignation under pressure was likely the first attempt to minimize damage to the university.
But the university is already facing new allegations about its football program, including questions about cars driven by quarterback Terrelle Pryor and a growing number of alleged violations involving players' sales of OSU memorabilia. Ohio State faces an Aug. 12 date with the NCAA's committee on infractions, which could lead to vacated games and seasons, a bowl ban and recruiting limitations.
The setbacks couldn't come at a worse time, as Gee leads a $2.5 billion fundraising campaign, OSU's biggest ever, and the university prepares for a tuition increase in light of decreased state aid.
Ohio State trustees referred calls to Gee's office, and both Gee and Smith declined comment on Tuesday.
Both were thought to be distancing themselves from Tressel — despite their earlier praise of the coach's integrity and honesty — in the weeks leading up to Monday's stunning resignation. Likewise, both played roles in Tressel's shocking departure.
Tressel was forced to step aside in the midst of an NCAA investigation of his program. In his resignation letter, he called the inquiry by the sport's sanctioning body a "distraction."
Five top players — including Pryor — were suspended in December for the first five games of the 2011 season for accepting cash and tattoos from the owner of a local tattoo parlor. Edward Rife, a big Buckeyes fan and sports memorabilia collector, owned Fine Line Ink. Dozens of autographed items including jerseys and gloves, along with Big Ten championship rings and even Pryor's Fiesta Bowl sportsmanship award, were discovered in a raid on Rife's business by the U.S. Attorney's office.
Tressel received an email in April 2010 telling him of the players' involvement with Rife and also disclosing that they were selling the items, a clear violation of NCAA rules against improper benefits for athletes. Yet Tressel did not notify his Ohio State superiors, the NCAA or the university's compliance department as he was required by the NCAA and his own contract. Instead, he forwarded the original email to Pryor's "mentor" in his hometown of Jeannette, Pa.
Smith met with Tressel on Sunday night and again on Monday, making it clear that the coach needed to resign. Gee also had a hand in the situation. He selected a special, eight-person committee of administrators and members of the university's board of trustees to review and analyze all aspects of the issues surrounding the beleaguered football program.
In a note to the board of trustees notifying them of Tressel's resignation, Gee said he had been "actively reviewing" the matter.
Even if the NCAA — which continues to investigate Ohio State's athletic department — were to find nothing else wrong with the program, there has been a rising tide of dissatisfaction with both Smith and Gee by alumni, fans and donors.
Gee, in his second stint as president of Ohio State in addition to being in charge at West Virginia, Colorado, Vanderbilt and Brown, has been a rainmaker for the university, bringing in large donors and large contributions. It's the biggest reason why the energetic man in the trademark bow tie is the highest-paid Division I university president in the country at around $1.2 million.
Gee didn't help his cause with a joke he made at a March 8 news conference when asked by a reporter if he had considered firing Tressel.
"No, are you kidding?" Gee said. "Let me just be very clear: I'm just hopeful the coach doesn't dismiss me."
That could not have played well with administrators and academicians fighting the lingering image of Ohio State as a football factory.
Smith also heaped praise on Tressel during the March news conference, saying, "He is our coach and we trust him implicitly."
In a subsequent interview with The Associated Press, Smith conceded that the news conference had been "a nightmare."
Now with Tressel out of the picture, both Gee and Smith are the easiest targets left. With the NCAA still probing the athletic department and with headline-grabbing reports almost every day that athletes were coddled and received cash and cars, they are taking the heat from fans and media.
Their fate will rest in the hands of the board of trustees and the movers and shakers behind the scenes of one of the nation's largest universities.
-- Rusty Miller and Andrew Welsh-Huggins
James, Nicklaus both weigh in on Tressel departure
MIAMI (AP) — LeBron James is at the NBA Finals. Jack Nicklaus is hosting the Memorial.
Neither can avoid the current mess surrounding Ohio State football.
James is a longtime Buckeyes fan, and Nicklaus played his college golf for Ohio State. On Tuesday, when both James and Nicklaus were speaking before their events, the very first question each heard from the media was about his reaction to Jim Tressel’s scandalous departure from the Buckeyes.
Tressel resigned Monday amid NCAA violations, sending one of America’s proudest programs into even more turmoil.
Even now, Nicklaus sounds unwavering in his backing of the former coach.
"How could you possibly control what some kids do?" Nicklaus asked. "It was a fairly innocent act. You want to get a tattoo? You’re going to get a tattoo. Is that a big deal? Maybe to those kids it was. Maybe it’s the NCAA’s fault. Maybe the only way to pay for those tattoos was to do what they did. Is that a big deal? Probably not. It was theirs.
"At the end of it, Tressel was like a father to these kids. He brought these kids into the school, and he wants to protect these kids. He probably didn’t think that was a big deal. And that was his mistake."
James, an Ohio native, never went to college but has been close with the Buckeyes programs. The basketball team wears his line of apparel and James is tight with Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor, whose car collection — specifically, how he was able to obtain expensive vehicles — is now under scrutiny.
"Everyone in Columbus and Ohio knows how important, how great (Tressel) was for the university," James said after the Miami Heat completed their final practice before Game 1 of the NBA finals against the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night. "So it’s unfortunate. I wish him the best and the organization, the university will come back. It’s one of the best universities that we have in America."
Nicklaus is an Ohio State legend. Not only is he a native of Columbus, Ohio, where the school is based, but The Jack Nicklaus Museum is in the heart of the Buckeyes’ athletic complex.
"Well, obviously the cover-up was far worse than the act," Nicklaus said Tuesday in Dublin, Ohio. "And once you got the cover-up, it became a situation where Jim had to say some things that turned out to be that weren’t exactly truthful. And so that’s where he got himself in trouble. ... I feel very bad for Jim. He’s a nice man."
Nicklaus’ grandson, Nick O’Leary, signed earlier this year to play football for Florida State. Nicklaus said he would have been thrilled if the tight end — one of the nation’s most coveted recruits in the 2011 signing class — had chosen to play for Tressel.
Nicklaus said when Ohio State was recruiting his grandson, everything went by the book. Nicklaus and Tressel were at the same game last fall when the coach was looking at O’Leary and some of his teammates. But in accordance with NCAA rules, Nicklaus said Tressel did not spend much time with him at that game, other than a quick greeting.
Tressel’s decade-long run as Ohio State’s coach ended because he was aware players received cash and tattoos for autographs, championship rings and equipment and did not tell anyone at Ohio State or the NCAA what he knew for more than nine months. That violated both NCAA rules and the terms of his own contact with the university.
"What’s going to happen, I don’t know beyond this point," Nicklaus said. "The NCAA, it’s more in their hands. Once one of these things happens, by the time they get through digging they’re going to find whether somebody had a hangnail someplace or not."
-- Tim Reynolds
Ohio governor sad, upset over Tressel departure
WEST UNION, Ohio (AP) — Gov. John Kasich says he's sad and upset Jim Tressel has resigned, saying the Ohio State football coach "always believed that he tried to do what he could to help kids."
The Columbus Dispatch reports that the governor, an Ohio State alumnus, called Tressel a "terrific person" on Tuesday, a day after the coach resigned amid an NCAA investigation into the football program.
Tressel was aware players improperly sold autographs and game memorabilia for cash and tattoos and did not tell anyone at Ohio State or the NCAA for more than nine months, violating association rules and his contact with the university.
Kasich defended Tressel, saying perfect people "don't exist on the face of the earth."
The governor added that, "in the 21st century it's extremely difficult to manage all these pressures and challenges."
A look at recent college football scandals
On June 10, 2010, the NCAA capped a four-year investigation of Southern California by slamming the Trojans with harsh sanctions, including a two-year ban from postseason and the loss of 30 scholarships over a three-year period.
Since then, college football has been beset by scandals. A look at some of the most notable ones:
— North Carolina loses 14 players for parts of the season, including eight for all of it, due to an NCAA investigation into improper benefits from an agent and academic misconduct.
— Alabama defensive tackle Marcell Dareus was suspended two games for accepting nearly $2,000 in improper benefits from an agent.
— Georgia receiver A.J. Green was suspended four games by the NCAA for selling a jersey for $1,000 to a person deemed to be an agent.
— Former USC star Reggie Bush, who was the focal point of the scandal that led to the Trojans being punished by the NCAA, decided to return his Heisman Trophy. Heisman rules state a player must be in good standing with the NCAA to be eligible for the award. The NCAA ruled Bush ineligible for the 2005 season and the Heisman Trust might have taken back the award if Bush did not give it back.
— Auburn quarterback Cam Newton’s father was accused of trying to sell his son’s commitment to Mississippi State for $180,000 while the player was being recruited out of junior college. The NCAA ruled the elder Newton did try to pull off a play-for-pay scheme, but because there was no evidence Cam Newton or Auburn knew about it, he was allowed to keep playing. Newton went on to win the Heisman Trophy and lead the Tigers to the national championship, but the NCAA’s case on him was not closed.
— Ohio State had five players, including quarterback Terrelle Pryor, suspended for the first five games of the 2012 season after it was revealed they were trading memorabilia such as jerseys and championship rings for tattoos. The NCAA allowed all five players to play in the Sugar Bowl against Arkansas.
— Ohio State coach Jim Tressel admitted he received information about the memorabilia-for-tattoos scandal months before the university conducted an investigation and did not share that information with his bosses or the NCAA. Tressel is first suspended for two games, then for five, and ultimately he resigns.
— The Fiesta Bowl fired its CEO after an internal report reveals lavish spending and inappropriate use of funds, including potentially illegal campaign contributions. The BCS threatens to no longer do business with the Arizona-based game, but ultimately fines the Fiesta $1 million dollars.
— Auburn said it will investigate claims by four former football players, who told HBO’s "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" they received thousands of dollars while being recruited by or playing for the Tigers.
— Oregon said it has been contacted by the NCAA to provide documentation about its use of a pair of recruiting services, including one in Texas run by a man with ties to running backs LaMichael James and Lache Seastrunk. Documents show Oregon paid $25,000 to Will Lyles of Complete Scouting Services in Houston.
Other College Football Capsules
QB Green transferring from Nebraska
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska backup quarterback Cody Green has decided to transfer after getting beaten out by Taylor Martinez for the starter's job last fall and having failed to make headway in the spring against new challengers.
Green and coach Bo Pelini confirmed the transfer in a statement Tuesday.
"The decision to leave was very difficult for me and my family," Green said. "It was by far one of the hardest things I've ever done. I talked to coach Pelini and he has offered to assist me in finding another school to continue my playing career. I wish coach Pelini and Nebraska nothing but the best this year and in the future."
Recruiting services pegged Green as one of the top 10 quarterback prospects in the nation when he was coming out of Dayton, Texas, two years ago. Fans believed Green was destined to be the next in a line of Nebraska quarterback greats like Tommie Frazier, Scott Frost and Eric Crouch.
Green, who backed up Zac Lee in 2009, wasn't up to the task when Pelini declared the starter's job open before the 2010 season. The more elusive and faster Martinez beat out Green and Lee, and blossomed into one of the top freshmen in the country before injuries slowed him the second half of the season.
Green didn't appear to have the coaching staff's confidence last season. It was Lee who took over for an ineffective Martinez in a 20-13 loss to Texas. And after Martinez sprained his right ankle late in the first half against Missouri two weeks later, Lee got the nod to take over in the second half of the 31-17 win.
Green did start in wins over Iowa State and Colorado.
In November, Green said he wouldn't consider transferring.
"If you leave, you're just going to have to start over again," he said at the time. "If you're in my shoes, you're already down two years and you're going to have to learn a whole new offense, which will take a year, and get in with new guys all over again. What's the point of doing that when you have a one-in-a-million chance of going to the next level?"
Green also had expressed enthusiasm about the new offensive system Nebraska plans to take into the Big Ten under first-year coordinator Tim Beck.
Had Green stayed at Nebraska, however, he might have slipped to No. 3 on the depth chart behind Brion Carnes, a redshirt freshman.
Carnes clearly outplayed Green in the spring game, and walk-on Ron Kellogg III also was impressive. Green also might have faced additional competition from incoming freshman Bubba Starling, though it's not certain Starling will play college football. Starling is projected to be one of the first players taken in next week's major league draft.
"Cody Green is a tremendous young man and we appreciate the contributions he has made to this football program," Pelini said. "Cody feels like it is in his best interest at this time to look at other schools to continue his college career. We will support him in this process and wish him success in the future."
-- Eric Olson
Emmert makes selections for bowl task force
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman and American Express CEO Kenneth I. Chenault will co-chair the Division I Bowl Licensing Task Force.
NCAA President Mark Emmert also selected three university presidents — Judy Genshaft of South Florida, Nathan Hatch of Wake Forest and John Peters of Northern Illinois — for the panel on Tuesday. Athletic directors Joe Castiglione of Oklahoma and Tim Curley of Penn State also were chosen.
The others are Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe, Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson, Southeastern Conference administrator Greg Sankey, Pac-10 administrator Kevin Weiberg and Sharon Allen, chairman of the board of Deloitte LLP.
The task force will look into several issues, including conflict of interest policies and financial management of bowl games.
