GP1

I thought it was the heartburn he was having? Or, he looked around and thought, "I haven't done a good job of bringing in good players and I need to get out." If he brought in better players, he wouldn't have been so concerned with what goes on in the SEC. If Tim Tebow could have been able to play for him for ten years at Florida, he would still be there. He is excellent at picking schools with a good QB, going there and winning right away. I'm not sure he has a Chris Leak or Tebow or Smith at OSU. When the stud QB goes away, his greatness goes away. His saving grace at OSU will be how terrible the conference is and the lack of meaningful competition each week.

I have no issue with his hire. All I said was I give Tressel's time at Akron being around 12-18 months...closer to 12. 10 months from now, coaches will begin to be fired and his name will come up in conversations.

I don't care what he married into. People always want more. What is the max retirement benefit in Ohio and how is it reached?

Best post on this topic. 18 months on the high end.

Goes directly to motivation. He has between 25 and 30 years in the Ohio retirement system. 30 is the magic number. I count he has around 28 right now. I don't know exactly how it works, but a retired person gets a certain payout based on the average of their highest earning years. Let's say if he makes it to 30 he gets 75% of $1 million during his retired years. Pretty good income for doing nothing.

How many years does Tressel have in the Ohio Public Employees retirement program?

I'll get to my point in a second. First of all, I like the article because it is asking the Zips to be better than they currently are....and they are pretty freaking good right now. My point about DiG's point, which I would like to make the point that I agree with his point but let's get to the point, isn't something I've said. Just like I quote Bill Cowher as saying, "The most dangerous team is a team with confidence and momentum", I'll quite another Cowherism. "You don't bring in chemistry. You develop chemistry." The Steelers have a franchise built around the draft and developing young players into the Steelers way of doing business. They play out their first contract and for the most part they go away and another player is waiting in the wings. KD didn't originally recruit some of these guys so habits based on past college experiences come along with them. That is a tough nut to crack if there is a problem. Dave is right, it is up to the coach to develop the chemistry of the team. It's an interesting article, but the chemistry issue is not one I'm concerned about. Diggs has a problem because he tells players on the other team, who suck, that they suck? We should all be so honest in our daily lives. Diggs doing this isn't a problem unless it hurts the team and it doesn't seem to be doing that. We have the best team in the MAC and wel will be in the NCAA Tournament again.

We are already getting national attention. Below is part of the first sentence in the USA Today article about this issue. Is this really what we are looking for? "Jim Tressel, forced to resign as coach in disgrace last May amid a cash-for-tattoos scandal at Ohio State that toppled the football powerhouse" This is what the rest of the country thinks about our hire when they think of him. So, a few things could be going on. One could be, everyone in Ohio is stupid and can't see what the rest of the world does.. A second could be, everyone in Ohio has figured it out and this will be a bad hire because he is yesterdays news already. Third could be Tressel is coming here for a one to two years until he finds something he really wants to do and makes him the income he is used to making. Everyday Should Be Saturday had its own spin on the situation. Sort of makes us look pathetic. My opinion is we are paying Tressel $200K for the use of his name for as long as we can keep him. Others will do most of the hard lifting for him in terms of setting up his schedule with donors and then just have him sit at lunches and dinners telling football stories. I don't believe he will find that life challenging enough to keep him around. In the end, we won't look pathetic, but we will look desperate.

I put in between 1-2 years. I don't see this job keeping his interest for long. Basically, we are paying him $200,000 per year for the use of his name and not really what he can do.

This may or may not be a good hire. We don't know yet. I think we live in a society where people have very short memories. How do we even know if he will be working for UofA next year at this time? How do we know this just isn't a place to stop for a few months while he finds something else? I remain very skeptical. Yet, open minded about the whole thing. $200,000 isn't much money for a person who was used to making much, much more. I don't see this as a long term gig for the guy.

I'm with you Dr Z. All things Tressel usually smell funny to me. As long as this thread is now, I have yet to see anyone make a compelling argument as to why hiring Tressel in this capacity is a good idea.

If by "search" WKRK means falling flat on their faces trying to hire one guy and then having another guy come knocking, I guess it was a "search".

I would hope so as well. If this is true, I'm not certain why Proenza couldn't leave well enough alone. I don't want this to be like the horrible situation Faust was put into when Dennison worked as an athletic director.

TB seems to be doing just fine without him.

Count me in the camp as firmly not giving a crap, one way or the other, about James.

Looks like a good class regardless of the amount of time the staff had to recruit. Well done. Some real good size in these kids. Two kids stick out in particular. Arlington McClinton...6'6" is a huge DE at any level. If he can play, this is the type of body that lands in the NFL. He needs some weight, but I'd rather him come in too thin than too fat. Andrew Pratt...6'5" WR. There are NFL QBs out there who would give their right "you know what" for a player this size because of the impact they can have in the red zone reaching balls where smaller guys can't. If he can catch, this is a go to guy when points are needed. Again, well done by the staff.

Who?

This is good news. I wish the University could find creative ways to get former playes of every sport involved in supporting the University through actions beyond just giving money. Giving money is easy. Giving time and effort is difficult. The most difficult things to do sometimes are those worth doing. A few years ago, we had a telemarketing campaign and former players took part in. Basically, it was former players of every sport calling others of their sport raising money. Most donors appreciated being contacted by a former player moreso than a random telemarketer. Of course, they gave up on it after one year. Always seemed like a good idea. The hardest donation to get from someone is the first.

Good article. It doesn't take 22 good players to win in the MAC which is why the rankings don't matter. It takes around six good players in the right positions, nobody worse than average at the rest and some good coaching to win in the MAC. This league is not complicated.

You know, if you change the word "player" to "fan", it would apply to many on this board.

Interesting indeed. Maybe it is as simple as they think he can play. Or, and I'm not sure about how all of the NCAA rules come into play, maybe they need to put a kid on track to graduate on scholarship for a year to boost graduation rates for the NCAA. Maybe they are looking around at what they have and they think they need some depth and this kid provides it. Maybe it's these reasons and more. Here is the answer I'm leaning toward though. TB and his staff are coming in late recruiting wise. It makes sense to give a kid, who has a developed body now, on his way to graduation and decent natural size, a one year scholarship to provide some depth. No need to panic and give out a scholarship to a freshman in the hopes he can play next year and in the future because they got a late start. Again...another smart move by TB and his staff. Anything this kid contributes on the field in a postive way next year is a plus for the team. We live in an either/or world. I'm glad TB and his staff can see more than two ways to do something.

I went to a Charlotte 49ers game last night against Xavier. Good league. I'd like to see Akron get X back on the schedule and some known A-10 teams. Dayton, UMASS, Temple and Xavier come to mind. Hell, throw in Charlotte so I can go se them play. The A-10 is a good league and one we could really test our progress against. I think we would compete well.

Chuck Amato This article was in the Charlotte Observer a couple of weeks ago. AP reprint. Not much discussion about a building process, but a lot about winning.

Big plays are critical in deciding NFL games. Think about Super Bowls...Riggins long run...Ward long reception in Super Bowl XL...Willie Parker long run...Bradshaw passes to Swan. The list is long. The Giants will make them. The Patriots don't have enough big play guys because they rely on the oxymoron "big play tightend". That player doesn't exist. He'll get some first downs, but not big plays. I love the Giants winning this game.

So do I. If you would like to go the extra mile, maybe you could build a Swensons next to my house....