Jim Tressel's Self-Defense is Implausible and Dishonest

Tressel offered the confidentiality defense. The lawyer did ask Tressel to keep the information confidential (because his actions could get him disbarred) but in the second email, two weeks after the first one! This was someone asking him to do something versus obligations in his contract. Even if this promise of confidentiality was binding, Tressel knew about the violations for two weeks before it went into effect. He had two weeks to act without guilt and did nothing. There was no point keeping the information “confidential” anyway as his university email account is on the public record.

Tressel could have reported the violations without revealing his source. He could have tipped off the compliance staff to investigate it. His own university offers him the opportunity to report potential violations anonymously. There’s also the FERPA law schools are so happy to use when its to their benefit. Tressel could have suspended the players for undisclosed violations indefinitely and not publicly disclosed why.

Besides being profoundly convenient, Tressel’s “confidentiality” was also not entirely valid. Not sure what “pounding these guys” means, but the emails imply he spoke to players about it and had them disassociate with Rife. He was confidential, in situations where his success would be adversely affected.

Tressel’s claims he did not want to reveal an impending investigation might be valid, but why feign ignorance and keep the fact you had information quiet after the investigation became public knowledge?

Jim Tressel covered up NCAA violations. He lied about it multiple times. Caught out, he’s lying to protect his own lying. This story isn’t convoluted. It needs no nuance. Jim Tressel was wrong. He made a bad, selfish decision to serve his own ends. He was caught. His reputation for and purported track record of integrity are irrelevant. Quoting the great Albus Dumbledore: “It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

The most telling quip from the press conference was E. Gordon Gee’s “I hope he doesn’t dismiss me” joke. Tressel makes three times as much as his supposed bosses. Ohio State football brings in revenue. It gives the university a national profile. It keeps both Gee and Gene Smith among the highest paid at their respective professions in the country. They are powerless and grasped to the teat. The weak, self-imposed punishment reflected that.  Hopefully, the NCAA shows a bit more fortitude.

[Photo via Getty]