I’ve been meaning to comment on this. I think Ohio State did a good job in their response to the NCAA, and they are right to point out, as they do at considerable length, that the violations in question were unknown and unknowable to the university and its compliance staff due to Tressel’s unethical behavior.
With that said, what OSU did not do, although they claimed to, was show a commitment to compliance. When a coach engages in unethical conduct in the NCAA sense, the right thing to do from an NCAA standpoint is to dismiss him in reasonably close proximity to the unethical conduct being established beyond a reasonable doubt. That happened on January 16th, when Tressel acknowledged to the university that he knew of the potential sale of memorabilia by several OSU football players in violation of NCAA rules. He also admitted knowing it was a violation of the rules, and that he violated his duty to the university under NCAA Bylaws to inform them of the…
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