Jim Tressel Resigns: The Short- and Long-Term Issues of His Departure from OSU

The most stunning news any Buckeye fan could have heard has indeed happened: Jim Tressel has resigned after 10 seasons as the coach of Ohio State football, according to a report by The Columbus Dispatch.

As a result of his resignation, defensive coordinator Luke Fickell will be promoted to full head coach for at least the 2011 season.

But this news is no doubt stunning to all sports fans, especially after Tressel indicated that he had no desire to resign.

Whether or not he wanted to get off the sinking ship at Ohio State or if the emotional toll that the chaos surrounding the problems he has caused in the last four months did him in, this is a sad chapter in OSU football history.

In the short-term, most Buckeye fans can forget about a championship of any sort, whether or not OSU will deal with postseason bans. 

But the reality of Tressel's situation was the very low survival rate of violators of NCAA Bylaw 10.1, to which he has now fallen.

It's hard for Ohio State fans to think about life without Jim Tressel, who won 106 of 128 games as the coach of the Buckeyes, including five BCS bowl victories and the 2002 BCS National Championship.

In the long-term, don't expect Ohio State to hire a new coach until after this upcoming football season, as they will go with Fickell for the next season.

Some of the big names that Ohio State can certainly go after include former Florida coach Urban Meyer and TCU's Gary Patterson, among others, but don't count out Fickell getting the full-time job.

What makes it tough in the long-term is that recruits who want to come to Ohio State have been recruited by Tressel, and things will change now that he's gone.

But the question really is why now?

This news comes just a few days after Ray Small's quote claiming that "Everybody was doing it," referring to rules violations like selling his Big Ten championship ring for money.

Even worse, there is a rumor of an SI article that could be released today adding more fuel to the fire, which could cripple the Buckeye football program.

Did Tressel pull a Pete Carroll and flee a sinking ship?

Regardless, unlike Carroll, Tressel's mess was self-inflicted and now this has to change the mindset of the NCAA, as it seemed like Tressel would fall on the sword.

Now that he's gone, Ohio State football may never be the same, at least right now.

Rest assured, Buckeye fans—there will be football this and next year and every year in the future.

The NCAA has said before that, after the SMU incident, they will never give out the death penalty again. Still, this situation pales in comparison to SMU's and does not warrant the same response.

Ohio State will now have a coaching vacancy to fill on top of stiff penalties in the future.

The only people happy about this decision have to be Michigan fans and players, who have won only one game in the last 10 years against Ohio State.

This story is extremely sad and disappointing for any fan, although Tressel's transgressions may have only set the program back slightly.

Ohio State football is bigger than one person and always has been.

Now the Buckeyes must fight back and survive their first bit of adversity in quite a long time.

Will they still be Ohio State? We're about to find out soon.

For more college football news and updates, visit The BCS Blitz and follow me on Twitter @bielik_tim.