There have been three further developments in The Ohio State University's ongoing Tattoogate scandal since I last reported. First, the school announced that linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator Luke Fickell was promoted to assistant head coach and interim head coach during Jim Tressel's (at this time) five-game suspension. Coach Tressel's comment? "I have tremendous confidence that Luke will take care of things just as they should be." Presumably, what "should be" does not include permanently replacing Tressel.
Second, it was disclosed by the Columbus Dispatch that Coach Tressel quickly forwarded the Tattoogate e-mails he had received in "confidentiality" from the concerned local alum/attorney to quarterback Terrelle Pryor's "mentor." Said mentor was identified as Ted Sarniak, a glass factory owner from Pryor's hometown in Pennsylvania.
This revelation makes Tattoogate messier on two fronts. First, it means Coach Tressel lied about the reason he lied to his school and the NCAA at the March 8 press conference. In case you forgot, Tressel claimed he held the tattoo parlor/OSU player transactions information to himself for nine months in order to maintain confidentiality and to preserve the sanctity of an ongoing federal drug trafficking investigation. Well, he let a wealthy businessman-booster crucial to Pryor's recruitment to OSU in on the problem early. Why?
Coach Tressel's credibility lies in ruins (pun intended).
Which brings us to the second negative aspect of the revelation: just how involved are the Buckeye boosters with the program? Mr. Sarniak had loaned Pryor a Corvette for his senior high school prom. Mr. Sarniak had accompanied Pryor on his official recruiting visit to Columbus. Mr. Sarniak had dined with two Buckeye assistant coaches the night before Pryor made his official visit to Ann Arbor. You do the math. Worst of all, the revelation shows that Coach Tressel has greater trust in and is closer to a booster than he is to his own administration, school attorneys, or NCAA investigators. If that supposition is untrue, then it's a worse conclusion: Coach Tressel believes a wealthy Buckeye booster has more influence and control over one of his star players than he, the head coach, does. Why? Again, you do the math. Are there other "mentors" helping and guiding other star Buckeye players?
The third major development poses another question. Apparently, according to CBSSports.com, The Ohio State University knew before the March 8 conference that Coach Tressel had forwarded those e-mails to Mr. Sarniak. When Coach Tressel had reluctantly (with an "Uh-huh") affirmed forwarding the e-mails, it was athletic director Gene Smith who had cut off the reporter and Tressel, changing the direction of the conversation. Now, the appearance is one of obfuscation. Since both Mr. Smith and the school president were singing Coach Tressel's praises and providing ringing endorsements of his character at the conference, just how much did they know and when did they know it?
The NCAA investigation will really clamp down like punk rockers The Clash now on Ohio State. First, usual ally Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney will be hard-pressed to defend the Buckeyes now, since he told investigators off for being so lenient on Auburn in the Cam Newton case. Second, these two infractions, one by the players and one by Coach Tressel, occurred within five years of the NCAA penalizing the Buckeyes for the Coach O'Brien-Boban Savovic basketball infractions.
The Buckeyes are repeat violators. The ultimate NCAA sanctions will be severe because of this. The only way the school can mitigate damages is to sever its relationship with Coach Tressel, and possibly with athletic director Gene Smith as well. The University of Southern California did the right thing in severing its ties with former athletic director and playing legend Mike Garrett, and replacing him with Mr. Legal Eagle and playing legend Pat Haden. How soon will Ohio State follow suit?
Would you like a single ray of sunshine in this case? Local Columbus journalists are providing solid investigative reporting. They don't want to be the laughingstock of the sports world. Yet, imagine the pressure put on them by superiors and advertisers and readers to "look the other way."
The outlook is gloomy. In December of 2010, Ohio State was able to keep its roster intact for the Sugar Bowl due to heavy lobbying by Commish Delaney and Sugar Bowl CEO Paul Hoolahan. With the Fiesta Bowl/John Junker scandal exploding (more on that next week), not a single bowl representative can afford to come to the aid of the Buckeyes this time. As a result, expect forfeitures of all 2010 season victories at the very least. What else? Keep reading this blog for further revelations as the NCAA and The Ohio State keep wresseling with the Tressel Messel.
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