Jim Tressel resigns

[Biggskip]

Originally Posted by MrG

You mean like how AJ Green (a star at an SEC school) was forced to immediately sit four games for selling a single jersey, but, at OSU, a more severe infraction resulted in suspensions that weren't imposed until the following season, thus allowing their players to participate in a major bowl game?

C'mon, Conne, Tressel really fucked up here. It would have been one thing if these kids had just screwed up on their own. It's entirely different when the head coach is directly involved in a cover-up.

Look, GA, drew the sort end of the stick. Everyone knows that the Green suspension was clearly a ploy to ensure that AL would go undefeated (save for the upstart Auburn Tigers) so that they would have the easy route to a repeat national championship. (10)

Originally Posted by Krish the Fish

I (and the rest of "Buckeye Nation") saw this coming a mile away. It was pretty cut and dry when there was a press conference about it initially.

Hopefully the rumors are true and Urban Meyer is our head coach for the 2012 season.

Yeah, this sucks, but he probably deserves it. There is no way Meyer is comes north. He genuinely gets ill from all of the stress associated with coaching a major college program. He is gonna chill for a while and is probably one of the few people who say they are quitting to spend more time with their family and then actually do it.

Originally Posted by tj100

And now just to prove how ridiculous it all is, how long will it be before Tressel signs a multi-million $$$ contract with some elite team that dares go 7-5?

I think he's out of a major program for several years. Look at what happened to Mike Price (who I would love to have come to OSU). He was the heir apparent to bring Alabama back to greatness and after his fall (brought by libelous means) he's been stuck in El Paso ever since.

 

[thinman]

Originally Posted by Connemara

Such bullshit. Look at the **** that someone like Cashman gets away with. And now Tressel is forced out due to some tattoos.

If anyone doubted that the NCAA is in the tank for the SEC this should clear things up.

Tressel just wasn't smart enough to follow Pete Carroll's lead and flee to the NFL before the NCAA got too close.

Originally Posted by Texasmade

No, he was forced out for lying to the NCAA.

This.

Originally Posted by Krish the Fish

I (and the rest of "Buckeye Nation") saw this coming a mile away. It was pretty cut and dry when there was a press conference about it initially.

Hopefully the rumors are true and Urban Meyer is our head coach for the 2012 season.

Bob Stoops?

 

[tj100]

Originally Posted by Biggskip

I think he's out of a major program for several years. Look at what happened to Mike Price (who I would love to have come to OSU). He was the heir apparent to bring Alabama back to greatness and after his fall (brought by libelous means) he's been stuck in El Paso ever since.

Not comparable. Mike Price has only had one BCS coaching gig (Washington State), where he was somewhat middling - two Pac 10 championships in 13 seasons. And the Pac 10 is no Big 10.

Look at Rick Neuheisel; Lane Kiffin; etc.

Sure, he'll have to go to the NFL for a couple of years, but Tressel will be coaching at Texas A&M before you know it...

 

[StephenHero]

Originally Posted by thinman

Bob Stoops?

Oklahoma is a better job.

 

[tj100]

Originally Posted by StephenHero

Oklahoma is a better job.

Over the last 10 years, it has been. But with the Big XII conference increasingly dominated by Texas - and Texas being increasingly greedy - I'm not sure Oklahoma will be a great place to be.

 

[StephenHero]

I think Oklahoma is getting its own television network from what I understand. Texas and Oklahoma both benefit from being able to negotiate their own products independently without the revenue sharing of the Big Ten. Ohio State is the #2 program in the Big 10, but it's outside their best interest for equal revenue sharing.

Also, I think Oklahoma and Texas are a better recruiting pool than Ohio and the upper midwest. They're both great jobs, but I don't think any coach would move from Oklahoma to Ohio State.

 

[tj100]

Originally Posted by StephenHero

I think Oklahoma is getting its own television network from what I understand. Texas and Oklahoma both benefit from being able to negotiate their own products independently without the revenue sharing of the Big Ten. Ohio State is the #2 program in the Big 10, but it's outside their best interest for equal revenue sharing.

Oklahoma is setting up its own TV network, but it won't be nearly as lucrative as The Longhorn Network. Personally, I think the direction that Texas is taking the Big XII is to the detriment of the conference and all of the other schools in the conference. In the longer term, the Longhorn Network is going to suck premium games out of the conference revenue sharing pool, leaving a pretty weak product behind.

I don't think Oklahoma can sustain its success in the Big XII as currently set up. So, right now, Oklahoma is a better HC job - but in 5 years, I'll bet Ohio State is, by a wide margin.

 

[StephenHero]

The Big 12 just renegotiated a huge deal with Fox for their second tier games. The contract for their first tier games is up for renewal next year and most indications point to it matching or exceeding every conference's deal except for the SEC. The Big 12 is in really really really good financial position, which comes as a surprise to most people after the publicity from last summer.

 

[Dakota rube]

Originally Posted by tj100

Not surprised at all, but I think the whole enterprise (college football) needs to be rethought, given the ongoing rules violations at the most "successful" programs.

Tressel probably had to go to save OSU's program, but all of college sports needs to be re-thought. The NCAA is too big, too rich and too powerful, and really is answerable to no one. I don't mean to suggest the Feds should be overseeing college sports, but the NC$$ needs to be taken down a notch or two.

Probably going to have to pay the players in major sports over and above their scholarships.

(An interesting aside: I was helping RubeBabeIIIâ„¢ do her income tax return and saw that scholarships above the cost of tuition are taxable income!)

 

[Slopho]

Can we just pay these players already. Selling shoulder pads and a protective cup just to not eat Ramen noodles.

 

[StephenHero]

Food, housing, and perks are the intangibles that aren't a problem. They live like kings and can pocket cash leftover from their housing stipends. It's their inability to pass on any of those benefits (no matter how small) to their family or their own savings that really diminishes the value of their benefits. I'm not sure how or if they should be paid, but there needs to be some sort of way to diminish the incentives for cheating.

I haven't put much thought in to it, but I heard somebody mention an option where players could be drafted before they finish playing in college, so they would be collecting a % of their contract before playing pro. If they got injured, the team that drafted them would be paid back in insurance. If a player got drafted and chose not to sign, they would re-enter the draft after college, where they could get a much larger contract because of the diminished risk.

So effectively, a player would have the option of accepting a smaller pro contract in advance to cover any need-based expenses within their family, or hold out until their college career is over for a greater sum of money. It would keep the colleges from being forced to bid or buy players with fans' money, and it would reduce colleges' incentives to pay off players that came from disadvantaged backgrounds. But I haven't really looked into it.

 

[Biggskip]

Originally Posted by thinman

Bob Stoops?

There is now way Stoops leaves OU for OSU. He and Mack Brown have the two most cake jobs in college football.

Originally Posted by tj100

Not comparable. Mike Price has only had one BCS coaching gig (Washington State), where he was somewhat middling - two Pac 10 championships in 13 seasons. And the Pac 10 is no Big 10.

Look at Rick Neuheisel; Lane Kiffin; etc.

Sure, he'll have to go to the NFL for a couple of years, but Tressel will be coaching at Texas A&M before you know it...

Mike Price coached in one of the most undesirable areas of the country at one of the worst schools in the Pac 10. Getting quality talent to agree to spend their winters in Pullman, WA over Palo Alto or LA is akin to selling ice to the Eskimos. He squeezed plenty of blood out of that stone. I would love to see what he could do if he had the coaching job at the best football school in a good football state.

Originally Posted by StephenHero

Oklahoma is a better job.

So agree.

Originally Posted by tj100

Oklahoma is setting up its own TV network, but it won't be nearly as lucrative as The Longhorn Network. Personally, I think the direction that Texas is taking the Big XII is to the detriment of the conference and all of the other schools in the conference. In the longer term, the Longhorn Network is going to suck premium games out of the conference revenue sharing pool, leaving a pretty weak product behind.

I don't think Oklahoma can sustain its success in the Big XII as currently set up. So, right now, Oklahoma is a better HC job - but in 5 years, I'll bet Ohio State is, by a wide margin.

I don't agree with this. The Big XII needs to invite a couple of schools (maybe UTEP or SMU) and move OU to the "North" Division and the problem is solved.

Originally Posted by Dakota rube

Tressel probably had to go to save OSU's program, but all of college sports needs to be re-thought. The NCAA is too big, too rich and too powerful, and really is answerable to no one. I don't mean to suggest the Feds should be overseeing college sports, but the NC$$ needs to be taken down a notch or two.

Probably going to have to pay the players in major sports over and above their scholarships.

(An interesting aside: I was helping RubeBabeIIIâ„¢ do her income tax return and saw that scholarships above the cost of tuition are taxable income!)

Originally Posted by Slopho

Can we just pay these players already. Selling shoulder pads and a protective cup just to not eat Ramen noodles.

Totally agree with Rube and Slopho regarding the compensation of players. Did anybody see the Frontline on the NCAA w/Ed O'Bannon? Good stuff.

 

[tj100]

Originally Posted by StephenHero

The Big 12 just renegotiated a huge deal with Fox for their second tier games. The contract for their first tier games is up for renewal next year and most indications point to it matching or exceeding every conference's deal except for the SEC. The Big 12 is in really really really good financial position, which comes as a surprise to most people after the publicity from last summer.

The new Big XII deal is significantly smaller than the Pac 12, SEC, and Big 10 deals. ~$130M/year vs. $250M for the Pac12, $205M for the SEC and $250M for the Big 10. Granted, the Big XII has two fewer teams to split it with, but it's a lot less money than the other conferences have to spread around.

Now, Oklahoma is lucky to be one of the 'cool' kids in the Big XII - so they (along with UT and A&M) get $20M/year (leaving the other seven schools about $10M each). But they're only 'cool' at the whim of UT, which is clearly driving the show. And if you're Oklahoma, how does it feel to be getting less TV $$$ than Utah, Oregon State, Northwestern, Arizona, Mississippi State, etc.?

 

[tj100]

Originally Posted by Biggskip

I don't agree with this. The Big XII needs to invite a couple of schools (maybe UTEP or SMU) and move OU to the "North" Division and the problem is solved.

So, Oklahoma is going to play in a different division than Texas AND Oklahoma State? I guess you could move both Oklahoma and OK State to the North, and do the 'designated rivals play every year' thing to preserve the Red River Shootout.

With TCU going to the Big East, the Big XII is officially in the discussion for worst BCS conference.

 

[StephenHero]

Originally Posted by tj100

The new Big XII deal is significantly smaller than the Pac 12, SEC, and Big 10 deals. ~$130M/year vs. $250M for the Pac12, $205M for the SEC and $250M for the Big 10. Granted, the Big XII has two fewer teams to split it with, but it's a lot less money than the other conferences have to spread around. Now, Oklahoma is lucky to be one of the 'cool' kids in the Big XII - so they (along with UT and A&M) get $20M/year (leaving the other seven schools about $10M each). But they're only 'cool' at the whim of UT, which is clearly driving the show. And if you're Oklahoma, how does it feel to be getting less TV $$$ than Utah, Oregon State, Northwestern, Arizona, Mississippi State, etc.?
The new Big 12 deal is only for the second-tier games. It's $90mm for games #3-5. It doesn't include the games like UT-OU, or UT-aTm. That contract goes to ESPN and ABC who broadcast the top two conference games each week. It's the contract that has yet to expire. It runs through 2015, and will be renegotiated by FOX this upcoming year in the ballpark of 3-4 times the price of the $90mm contract they just signed.