GP1

Good points. Let's create a hypothetical situration to see what Tressel's past behavior would say about his future behavior. Here is what we know. Tressel was involved in an incident at tosu where he was contacted by a lawyer about his players involvement with a guy who owned a business that was also a being investigated by the FBI for selling drugs. What did he do about it?....Nothing meaningful. He passed it off as "protecting" his players. Everyone outside of Ohio believes that to be a load of crap and find the guy to be laughable. However, citizens of Ohio buy it hook, line and sinker. Let's say Tressel is president of UofA and, hypothetically, he discovers an athlete-student is involved in selling drugs. Does his past behavior suggest he would be more prone to: A. Try to protect the kid and do nothing hoping to cover it up so the kids team can continue to win? or B. Take direct action to discover the truth and remove the player from the team and University? The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, so if you picked "A", you would be correct. I hope everyone has heard the saying, "Getting grin fu*%ed". Living in the south allows me very good insight into when this is happening. I think the insiders at UofA who think hiring Tressel is a good idea are getting a professional grinning if you know what I mean....

The discussion is already a national embarrassment and everyone outside of Ohio knows it. The news of this has gotten out and everyone I know from outside of Ohio who has heard of it thinks it is an absolute joke. Why? Because it is. The guy is an f-ing football coach for crying out loud and he has no experience in running a major university. But GP1, the employees at UofA don't like academics. Who give a crap? A university is a place for academics. It's where they go to work for crying out loud. If people don't like working around academics, they should find employment somewhere other than a university or learn to stop crying like a bunch of bitches. "A good experience for the students."? From all I can tell, this means building large playgrounds for students to play and watch sports. I'd like the good experience to be one where the students exceeded what they thought was their intellectual capacity prior to entering UofA and then going on to do something great. If Tressel gets the job and is horrible at it, what then? How long would it take to clean the mess up? How bad would it have to get before the Board of Trustees would have the guts to dismiss him? Not long ago, UofA hired a guy in a high profile position without the experience to hold down the job he had and it turned into a disaster. That person was Rob Ianello. Tressel would be able to hold on a lot longer than Ianello and do far more damage to UofA than Ianello ever could have if Ianello held the job for 10 years. UofA doesn't even have the common sense to fire the AD who hired Ianello. Can anyone name me a major university who has hired a former college football coach to be president and then took that school to greatness? (deafening silence for a good reason)..... The only college coach I know of ever to be a university president was Harry Byrd. Byrd was coach of the Maryland football team in 1911 (he also coached the baseball team later) and was president between 1936 and 1954. He built up the university in an era when the government was throwing money at public projects left an right because of the Depression. Lastly, I hope everyone starts to lay off the comments about people from "inside the University" think he is doing a great job. These insiders are the ones who have given our beloved University a $25 million debt and a decline in enrollment after telling us the University would blossom after the glutenous "building process". Sounds like we need more change to the "insiders" other than just the President. These clowns on the inside are just trying to put a good spin on a horrible idea.

Didn't we have a discussion not long ago about Akron keeping negativity out of the spotlight? Maybe they can bring Faust in as a guest lecturer.

I took the liberty of inserting some words in bold and caps above.

Article The "building process" is #1 on the list of culprits driving this crisis. No surprise here... An out of control government spending bubble causes an financial crisis. Go figure.

I'm going on record and giving a firm prediction. The Zips will win between 1 and 11 games this year. Take it to the bank.

Article Please go away NCAA. They are so stupid it isn't even funny. Did they not know doing this to a veteran would cause negative outcry or are they so rules minded they can't see the forest through the trees?

Big Ten teams are dropping cupcakes for mostly ACC teams it looks like to me. That's like dropping cupcakes for a slightly heavier desert such as brownies.

OSU Future Schedules If tosu is looking to pull back on cupcake scheduling, I'd like to know when. They like to play big name acc schools that actually suck (see North Carolina and VA Tech, a now dead program) to dupe their fan base into thinking they play a difficult schedule. As bad as the acc is, their teams will at least schedule some SEC schools ooc. tosu won't go near an SEC school for an ooc game. The point of this topic is, whether we should make a call to them. As long as college football is organized the way it is, the answer is, YES. Why? Well, athletic directors are like pimps, only with less morality because a pimp will admit to what he is and pays his girls. A pimp charges top dollar for his top girls so not everyone can afford one. The top girls at non BCS schools are the football team and the mbb team. Do we want to pimp our football team out to a cripple on government assistance (insert: Indiana, Kentucky, etc.) that can pay very little money, or do we want to pimp our team out to business executives who earn top dollar and can afford top dollar? The logical course of action is to pimp our team out to the tosus, Tennessees, etc of the world. I don't like it, but it is what it is in college athletics these days. Take the money. Everyone else is.

Some on this board will be happy we beat two Big Ten teams.

It would depend on whether or not we already have ATM games set up for those years.

Cans vs. Bottles A potentially divisive issue that could fracture the fabric of our nation.

Aaron was a great person. 39 is entirely too young.

"These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman." - The American Crisis The words above were written by American Patriot Thomas Paine. The first in a series of documents that later became known as Common Sense. Calls to arms from writers come in various forms. Some think Dyer's article is too harsh and offers little substance. Maybe, maybe not. Was Thomas Paine too harsh? Was Thomas Paine a yellow journalist? How about if we use it as a springboard to see what else there is to find out? It may not be pretty and the premature discharge of weapons to shoot the messenger here may not be doing anything other than covering up what may be a problem. After years of allowing the University to indulge itself in the "building process", let's see what is really happening. Dyer's article does not paint a pretty picture. It doesn't take much common sense to know overspending by government bodies creates huge deficits long term...UofA is $25 million in the red. It also doesn't take much common sense to understand that letting every lump who can fill out an application in the door so attendance rates increase may produce poor long term results such as a lot of people not graduating. I find it almost impossible to believe that there are large numbers of people transferring out of Akron because of the large commuter population. It also doesn't take much common sense to know that if there may be huge problems, a college football coach isn't the solution to the problem. I'm sure the Tories will come in again in an effort to defend the establishment. The establishment is an easy thing to defend because they can create a huge illusion for people. All the while, the truth is bubbling below and ready to explode. To Bob Dyer, I'd just like to say before your head gets too big from a post linking your words to Thomas Paine....There are guys who post on this board who knew Thomas Paine. There are guys on this board who served with Thomas Paine. You, sire, are no Thomas Paine, but a decent article anyhow.

Do a better job of attracting and admitting students interested in graduating in a reasonable time. It's not like UofA is a little behind. It is behind Wright Freaking State for crying out loud.

What's wrong with being critical of a taxpayer supported institution when it is falling short of the goals it established for itself?

No. It is a good vision. Maybe it is important at this point to bring someone in who can execute on some of the major points better. We are falling behind on two of the first three listed. I think now is a good time for Dr. Proenza and UofA to make a change. It will be good for everyone and provide UofA with an opportunity to freshen things up. Change can be a very good thing. I'd like UofA to find a Mike Thomas of university presidents. A smart young person with a huge intellect who is good at leading an organization.

Yes. They also exist in a world that is largely outside of the norm for that a university president manages. Could we take a risk with a former AD (I assume you mean Tressel's time at YSU, which doesn't qualify him for President at UofA because I don't want us to be YSU)? Yes, but it would not be a decision UofA needs right now. The statistics listed in jupitertoo's article should be reason for pause. On the surface, one who is focused on all the wrong ideas would believe there is nothing wrong at UofA because they see all new buildings and stadiums, etc. There is always more than meets the eye though. Proenza is leaving a mess in his wake and the mess is going to need some cleaning up. Proenza HAS left something to work with....he just didn't execute very well the last couple of years. It's good for UofA he is leaving before it gets worse.

Nice post and thanks for the lead on the story. Very upsetting in many aspects because it looks so bad and those graduating in 4-6 years are departing with a great degree. Like I said, UofA has some huge problems that a college football coach simply isn't equipped to address.

Great, great, great post zestycoyote!!! After many years of Proenza being president, there seem to be some smells around that don't quite sit well with me. Namely, the school is $25 million in the red while enrollment and retention are in decline. It happened on his watch AND is directly contrary to what he said would happen if the University followed his plan. UofA might have a Proenza overindulgence hangover for a few years. What evidence is there Tressel has demonstrated any leadership in solving a problem as big as UofA being $25 million in the red? Offering discounts for summer school? UofA has huge problems that a football coach can't solve. This isn't a knock on Tressel either because he is being asked to help with problems he has no experience in solving. Maybe the solution isn't someone with a PhD, but someone with experience in solving big problems and making difficult decisions. Tressel has no experience in solving. Bring someone in who does and find ways to use Tressel more effectively if the next president sees value in paying him $200K for whatever he does for a living.

I respectfully and completely disagree that this company will expand regardless of how well they educate people. In fact, the evidence is there is greater decline in enrollment in four year for profit schools than any other category. Buying stocks is about buying the future. I'm not buying for profit universities unless I want to make a decision based completely on betting on the short term. It's more than just the bad education that will eventually catch up with them. It's the change in demographics of the US that will lead to the collapse because the reduction in population is producing a reduction in the numbers that might go to college. One day, the halls of these schools will be as empty as a suburb in China. We need to look no further than our beloved UofA. All of the sports facilities and places for the students to play and go play, in the case of the rec center, have resulted in what? A decline in enrollment and contributed to it being $25 million in the red. UofA has the taxpayers of Ohio to fall back on. For profit schools have no taxpayers to fall back on. Banks didn't have the taxpayers to fall back on, yet they get taxpayer money. It won't be long before these schools are looking for a government handout. This country has gone so insane, they might just get one.

I'm as offended by the government giving money to a profit university money to operate as I am about the government giving dairy farmers money to pour milk down the drain in order to keep dairy prices up and make companies more profitable. However, $10 million is not a very big athletic budget. MAC schools have bigger budgets. Again, there is a difference between calling yourself D-1A and being D-1A. Athletics is not a good investment for a university because a traditional investment requires a return on that investment. There is almost no direct evidence that investments in athletics creates a positive return for the schools in any manner. This is why the "building process" is supported by taxpayer dollars. I see a lot of investment from this school in buildings. Fair enough. Where is the investment in research? What articles are the professors writing based upon their research? There is an old saying about professors, "If you aren't writing, you aren't reading and researching. If you aren't reading and researching, you aren't keeping up with the trends in your field. If you aren't keeping up with the trends in your field, you can't be an effective instructor." Until this university proves it can do those things, it will be producing the next crop of idiots. One would be better off with a Can't State graduate working for them.

I agree. It was good for the program that he got arrested as quickly as he did. Losing to Can't and getting blown out in the first round of the ncaas would have been the least of our problems had it gone on for a long period. The cops did UofA a favor.

If the Biblical Moses was that big, God wouldn't have had to take him to the top of Mt. Pisgah to see the promised land. He could have just pointed in the general direction.

Excellent article. Puts to rest a lot of the rumors about what went on.