You just knew this was coming.
Approximately a nanosecond after word first leaked Monday that Bruce Pearl had been fired as Tennessee’s men’s basketball coach, media folks on Twitter lit up the social media website with some variation of the theme “Jim Tressel, you’re next.”
Pearl had lied to the NCAA about a recruiting violation, was suspended by the SEC for eight conference games and was ultimately canned. Regardless of how the Tressel situation is nuanced and finessed by those in and around the situation, the Ohio State head coach lied to both his school and the NCAA by failing to acknowledge he had information that showed at least two of his players had likely received impermissible benefits. For that, a school-imposed two-game suspension morphed into a self-imposed five-game suspension to start the 2011 season and matches the sanctions placed on five of his players.
The situations are certainly similar enough to allow the media to make a leap in comparing the two without shredding a hamstring in the process. Enter the Orlando Sentinel‘s Mike Bianchi, who’s never been shy about diving headfirst into the pot and stirring it with the full force of his personality. In a brief blog post that some members of Buckeye Nation might derisively refer to as “trolling”, Bianchi makes the mini-case that Tressel is not long for Ohio State and that, after Tressel resigns, former Florida head coach Urban Meyer will take over the biggest football program in his home state.
Bianchi even goes so far as to make a rather bold, year-specific prediction couched in what appears to be his personal belief: “Urban will be coaching Ohio State when the 2012 season commences.” We’ll concede the floor to the esteemed Mr. Bianchi and allow him to state his case.Now that Tennessee has fired Bruce Pearl, isn’t it only a matter of time before Jim Tressel resigns at Ohio State and former Florida Gators coach Urban Meyer takes over?
I am convinced of it.
Obviously Meyer wants to decompress, take some time off from coaching and spend some quality time with his family. And he will get a chance to do just that this season while the vultures circle Tressel at Ohio State. With Tennessee firing basketball coach Bruce Pearl on Monday for similar transgressions to Tressel’s, it’s inevitable that Ohio State will eventually pull the plug on Tressel, too.
Let’s face it, Tressel has lost all credibility and could face massive sanctions once the NCAA is done investigating his role in covering up violations by his players. If the NCAA hammer falls and the Buckeyes struggle this year (and you know they will with quarterback Terrelle Pryor and Tressel suspended for the first five games), the pressure will mount and Tressel will ultimately resign.
That’s when a refreshed Meyer will be ready to return to coaching and take over a program he rooted for as a kid. It’s common knowledge Meyer idolized Woody Hayes and grew up a huge Ohio State fan in Ashtabula, Ohio. His intense, conservative, no-nonsense approach to the game is a perfect fit for the Big Ten powerhouse Hayes built.
Of course, and at least for now, there’s a big difference between the Pearl and Tressel situations. Much like OSU did, UT resolutely stood behind Pearl, even in the face of intense national criticism, when the lies to the NCAA first surfaced last year. It wasn’t until Pearl and/or his coaching staff committed two additional violations -- including one this month -- after he was initially busted that the situation changed and the school had almost no choice but to fire the popular hoops coach. As far as what is known publicly, there have been no additional transgressions committed by Tressel since he was first confronted with emails back in January that showed beyond any reasonable doubt that he knew players had received impermissible benefits.
As happened in Knoxville, could things occur over the next several months that would cause Ohio State to “Pearl” The Vest? Certainly they could, especially when the harsh light of an ongoing NCAA investigation is shining brightly on the coach. Once the NCAA starts digging, there’s no telling what they’ll find.
We have no doubt that Meyer would jump at the opportunity if the Ohio State job came open before his battery-refreshing window closed and he gets back to the sidelines. We just have serious doubts that, when all of the dust settles, there will be a job in Columbus to jump to whenever Meyer’s ready.