Jim Tressel Resigns: Ohio State Coach's Fall Comes in Part from Fans' Pushing

"Therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

—John Donne

On Sunday, Ohio State head football coach Jim Tressel resigned. Tressel's troubles started before the Sugar Bowl, when it was learned that Terrelle Pryor and other players traded their Buckeye memorabilia for tattoos and other services, in violation of NCAA rules. Things got worse when Ray Small, a former Ohio State player, said that he exchanged his championship rings for profit.

In some ways, Tressel's resignation was a question of when, rather than if. The NCAA suspended Pryor and the other players for five games, and that was after they found the players weren't adequately educated about the rules they were breaking. Previously, the NCAA suspended wide receiver Dez Bryant for an entire season because he lied to NCAA investigators about something that he likely wouldn't have been in trouble for had he fessed up.

But the final nail in the coffin was likely when USC's punishment was upheld last week. In that case, an assistant coach was found to have been aware of one player (Reggie Bush) breaking rules and making himself eligible. The school's punishment for that transgression was a two-year postseason ban and a loss of 30 scholarships.

The case against Ohio State is worse than USC's. With Ohio State, the issue surrounded five players (not even considering the Small story and the possibility of widespread rule-breaking) and it was the head coach that was involved. Further, the case against Ohio State was even more ironclad than against USC. There is email documentation showing Tressel's knowledge of the violations and of his dishonesty when explaining why he didn't tell his compliance officers about his knowledge.

Say what you will about the NCAA—and there's plenty of ways to criticize the organization—but if Tressel's resignation on Sunday was spurred by the fear of USC-style sanctions against Ohio State, the NCAA has done well for the sport. An attempt by Tressel to weather the storm would have left the story in the headlines throughout the college football season. Ohio State's 2011 season will be difficult enough with the five-game suspension of the "Tattoo Five," without Tressel's job status being a constant question.

The focus of the NCAA inquiry was primarily on Tressel, not on Ohio State. With Tressel's resignation, Ohio State has played the strongest card in its hand to avoid or mitigate sanctions against the football program, and has given itself at least a chance to focus on football rather than scandal in 2011.

The NCAA has also managed to at least cast one bright-line rule amidst the murkiness of its regulations: tell the truth. From Dez Bryant to Jim Tressel, the message has been sent at the very least that the cover-up will cost you dearly, regardless of what the crime may be.

It's been a rough offseason for college football, highlighted by the Tressel story. Big-time college athletics and the pressures to win push people—even smart and experienced people with a track record of doing things right—to cross lines and justify wrongdoing to themselves. But why do these stories keep happening? Why do we see schools like USC and Ohio State (the ones we know about to date) bending or breaking the rules?

Because we demand it. Because fanbases of schools like USC and Ohio State across the country demand winners. Because the coach who has a clean NCAA record but a bad win-loss record will be out of a job.

Jim Tressel is out of a job because Jim Tressel decided to break the rules, let's be clear. But Tressel's fall, and the consequences that Ohio State will suffer as a result of Tressel's decisions, come in part from the rabid desire from Ohio State fans to win at all costs.

That's not unique to Ohio State, of course. Fans of college football teams around the country have the same passion for their teams, and create the same pressures for their coaches.

So for the rest of the country, take heed. When your team doesn't perform the way you would like, and your message boards begin to fill up with "fire the coach" posts, keep one ear open for the NCAA bells in the distance.

And ask not for whom they toll. They toll for thee.