Ohio State Football: Did Jim Tressel Know About the Tattoo Five Sooner Than Stated?

According to Yahoo! Sports, Ohio State Head Coach Jim Tressel knew about the actions of "the Tattoo Five" eight months before the University says they were informed of the issue.

Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith was adamant last December that the athletic department was made aware on December 8,2010 that several of its players had violated NCAA rules by selling football memorabilia and receiving discount tattoos.  The report from rivals.yahoo.com however, states that Tressel was informed of the infractions as early as April of that year.

What does this mean for Ohio State football?  What should it mean for Jim Tressel?

A Source by Any Name...

...would be nice.  Here's where I feel the need to take a deep breath and a big step back.  The article does not once indicate where it gets its information, other than to say that "a two-month Yahoo! Sports investigation has found."

Later in the article, authors Charles Robinson and Dan Wetzel say "according to a source, a concerned party reached out to Tressel last April."  Yet, they don't name their source, or even indicate how the source may have come across this information.

Did this "concerned party" witness the transactions in person?  Were they employees at the tattoo parlor?  Are they reliable at all?  We don't know because the authors don't deem it necessary to give us any of that information.

Yahoo! isn't the first site I might think of when naming tabloid journalism.  However, in this age of dubious Internet reporting, it raises a few eyebrows when a report of this magnitude won't even bother to mention how their source fits into the picture.

The report goes on to lay out how the actions of the student-athletes violates NCAA rules and even goes so far as to lay out specific sections of Tressel's contract that deal with reporting of rules violations.  It says no more however, of how this mysterious source came about the information that they supposedly relayed to Tressel back in April.

Therefore, I have to take this report with something of a grain of salt.  Until it is verified by other sources, it deserves a level of skepticism.

If It's True...

There are big problems in Columbus.  As the article clearly states, Tressel is required to report any rule violation to the University as soon as he becomes aware of it.  Back in the days when I was an EMT, we used to call that being a "mandatory reporter."

In essence, if he knew something was going on and failed to report it to proper authorities, then he's complicit in the act.  He's as guilty as they are.

The report goes on to lay out exactly what kinds of disciplinary actions the school could take against Tressel, which includes "termination by Ohio State for cause."  What's more, the University itself could be subject to sanctions by the NCAA for "playing ineligible players and (could be) forced to vacate its 2010 season."

Of course, there could be myriad other options taken by the NCAA and/or Ohio State if/when punitive actions should become necessary.

Should it be determined that Tressel did know about the violations that much sooner than stated in the December 23rd press conference and should it be determined that he did not report it to the Ohio State athletic department (Smith), then something punitive needs to happen.

Personally, I'm not one to jump on the "fire Tressel" bandwagon at any point in time.  I've seen no reason in his ten years at Ohio State to think he's an unfair and underhanded individual.  In fact, I've always held him in the highest regard.

When the whole thing broke last December, I had the distinct feeling that Tressel wanted the suspensions to include the bowl game and that he wanted to do things the right way.  I felt like he received great pressure from higher powers to play the "Tattoo Five" in the bowl game and stick with the official suspension guidelines that called for them to sit out the first five games of the 2011 season.

I can't verify any of that and I'm not claiming that's the way it was.  That's the way I felt, though.  So, I'm not about to get too carried away now in thinking that the man needs to be fried.

His players received a five game suspension.  If it turns out that he's guilty as charged by Yahoo!, then I think the same sentence applies here.  Sit Tressel out for five games and make someone else wear the sweater vest and headset for a while.

What Does It Mean for Ohio State?

I'll be blunt and honest.  If these allegations are true and if the Ohio State University exercises its right to fire Tressel, I'll publicly call the school President and Athletic Director idiots.  You just don't fire a man who has brought six-consecutive conference championships, a national championship and repeated top-flight recruiting classes.  At least, you don't fire him for something that only garnered his players a five game suspension.

Still, we don't really know what the NCAA will do.  They've made examples of USC and several players who violated rules.  You can argue the finer points and split legal hairs all day regarding whether the Tattoo Five's actions were as bad as Reggie Bush's or not.  The NCAA has also come down fairly softly of late, especially where OSU is concerned.

We just don't know yet what they'll do.

Making the assumption that there will be some kind of punitive actions taken against Tressel and the Ohio State University, it won't be good for the Buckeyes.  They're already missing five players to start the 2011 season.  Will they be missing a coach too?

If Ohio State does exercise its right to fire Tressel, the program will have to find a new head coach at one of the worst possible times.  It's tough enough to find the right guy in December when recruiting is hitting hire gear, but nothing else is going on.  It's something entirely different to change coaches just before spring drills, when new recruits are making their way onto campus and are expecting to find an established, strong system in place, not a program trying to shift gears with a new driver behind the wheel.

If the NCAA decides to go so far as force the Buckeyes to surrender their 2010 season, the string of six-consecutive conference titles is officially over.  More than that, it's taken backward a step and will have "officially" ended at five.  Wisconsin and Michigan State will be the only co-champions and (worse) Ohio State will forfeit their only bowl victory over the SEC.

That's really not as big an issue as some fans might make it out to be, though.  The real issue is, what further sanctions might come down?  Would the NCAA partially mirror the USC verdict?  Would they ban the Buckeyes from post-season play in 2011?  Beyond?

If any of this proves to be true, it's a black eye on the Buckeyes and on the Big Ten.  In a year when the conference is celebrating the arrival of Nebraska into the fold and the first-ever conference title game, it would put an indelible black mark on an otherwise historic season.

This is all speculation though.  Yahoo! Sports says it conducted a two-month investigation and concluded that Tressel knew in advance that wrongdoing took place and did nothing.  I want to hear the full story.  I want to know who saw what and what information was passed along to whom and when.

Until all of that comes out, I'll hold my judgment.  For Ohio State's sake, I hope there was a mistake somewhere or that someone is just trying to discredit the university.  That's bad enough, but won't get anyone in further trouble with the NCAA.

If that's not the case though, and this is all true, buckle down.  There's a storm comin'.