Tressel Interviewing With Akron

Submitted by CRex on

Via Lost Letterman. They're reporting Tressel will interview with Akron today or tomorrow. They have a HC vacancy and are looking to hire. I'm not sure why on earth they'd touch Tressel, but what do I know.

Perhaps this is just to employ him as a consultant in the search, not as a candidate.

Edit:  An interesting point I found while on the Akron football page is they recycled Faust after his poor showing at ND.  So it's not unprecendent for them to take on a big name with issues.

jtmc33

November 29th, 2011 at 4:24 PM ^

OMG!

Start the "Akron in the 2014 Sugar Bowl" media reports now....

And what about Kalis... do you think he'll decommit and go to Akron now?

Wolverine Devotee

November 29th, 2011 at 4:24 PM ^

I hope he gets hired there. Michigan plays akron at home on 9/14/2013. I'd love to kick the shit out of him.

Darth Wolverine

November 29th, 2011 at 4:47 PM ^

But you know all the asshole Buckeye folks would say something snide like, "Oh, you couldn't beat Tressel when he had good players on his team at OSU but you can only beat him when he is coaching at Akron."

 

<middle finger to Ohio fans>

justingoblue

November 29th, 2011 at 4:26 PM ^

If it's actually an interview, I'd think it was for the coaching job. Do (famous, rich and formerly powerful) people normally interview to be a part of an advisory committee?

CRex

November 29th, 2011 at 4:30 PM ^

It seems like any interview would be for a coaching or AD type job.  Yet at the same time I can't wrap my head around why you'd go after a guy who 1.  Was considered to be closing in on retirement and 2.  Is likely looking at a show cause.  

Everyone speculated The Vest bailed to the NFL to avoid the show cause and tarnishing his rep.  Interesting that now he tries to come back.  If he feels confident enough to start interviewing perhaps this is a sign that the NCAA is going to let everyone off with a stern talking to.

(Also some alert NDNation that Tressel is back on the market.  I want to see them go up in smoke.)

justingoblue

November 29th, 2011 at 4:34 PM ^

I don't understand Akron's position here, either. They would be taking a big chance, although in their eyes it might be worth it. On another note, I had always heard that the only reason Tressel wasn't going to coach forever were his political ambitions, which are obviously out the window at this point.

He might be around for a while, but who knows if he can effectively recruit or win games at Akron, if he's actually looking for the head job there.

chitown.victor

November 29th, 2011 at 4:48 PM ^

Right now, JT could name his political position in Ohio.  He would instantly win any election he entered, from city council in any town or village, to state representative, to governor.  The people in that state feel as strongly about him as they did (and still do) about Woody.  I just don't get it.  Fickell gets all the blame for ruining that program, and Tressel "was forced out because his players got a few free tats."  That's the mentality of the Ohio fanbase. 

justingoblue

November 29th, 2011 at 4:58 PM ^

I think he was looking at Senate or Governor, I doubt Tressel wants a state rep or mayor job. They're out because Ohio's latest gubernatorial election was 49/47, a Republican was just elected and will probably be up for reelection in 2015. Senate might be a bit better, but there's no way he could beat out Mandel in a primary (mainly because he hasn't started fundraising, he isn't wealthy enough to go it alone and his party establishment is already, well...established pretty well behind another candidate).

On top of that, his name would be absolutely trashed by each and every one of his primary opponents and whoever faced him in the general, as well. I doubt he'd withstand the storm of being called a liar on TV, radio, and in print for a year-long campaign cycle.

sheepdog

November 29th, 2011 at 4:29 PM ^

I was in Columbus all week last week and had two conversations with two different people that each said they would re-hire Tressel at OSU.  And they were serious!  They absolutely no problem with the improper benefits.

Freakin delusional.

Wolverine Devotee

November 29th, 2011 at 4:32 PM ^

I hope Michigan puts up 70 points on that fucker if he goes to akron.

I also remember laughing like crazy when someone posted this gif on here after he was fired from ohio.

readyourguard

November 29th, 2011 at 4:33 PM ^

Yesterday, I heard the head coach at Wayne State (Paul Winters) was going to be the next coach at THE Akron State.  He's done a remarkable job at Wayne State and did two tours of duty in Akron (the last as OC/QB coach).

ShruteBeetFarms

November 29th, 2011 at 4:37 PM ^

Perhaps they are consulting Tressel about Fickell. Fickell seems more in line for a MAC job than Tressell.

I still think Zook would be a good fit at Akron. They could easily change their name to the Akron Zooks.

MichiganFootball

November 29th, 2011 at 4:44 PM ^

I could see the Colts hiring Tressel. They will clearly be looking for a new coach, and he's already been working there as a replay assistant. He always turned down the NFL before because he didn't want to leave Ohio, but at this point why not give it a try.
<br>
<br>If he really is available for NCAA jobs though, UCLA should make a run at him.

MichiganFootball

November 29th, 2011 at 5:13 PM ^

I don't know UCLA seems pretty desperate to me right now. They'll make a run at Chris Peterson and when that likely falls through they'll be left with Kevin Sumlin or bust. I personally don't think Tressel should be allowed back into coaching but if he is I don't think UCLA would hesitate in going after him. I think their fanbase is desperate and would be willing to overlook his indiscretions.

Rabbit21

November 29th, 2011 at 6:06 PM ^

Read through the coaching search threads on Bruins Nation, it's pretty obvious they're picky about who they want the next coach to be, Sumlin gets almost no love there because they see him as unproven.  Hiring Tressel would also take away their perceived moral superiority to USC and that's something Bruins fans cherish above all else(see any parallels.........).  I get the desperation, but I doubt Tressel gets received with open arms.

Erik_in_Dayton

November 29th, 2011 at 4:52 PM ^

I cannot from memory distinguish the smoke from the fire when it comes to what was going on at OSU (other than the failure to report and the tats-for-memorabilia from the suspended players).   Did it really turn out to be that bad?  Neg me if you want, but I don't see Tressel's failure to report the tats-for-memorabilia issue as egregious given that there was a federal investigation invovling a greater situation going on at the time.  Anyway, what do we really know about what happened at OSU? 

Erik_in_Dayton

November 29th, 2011 at 5:35 PM ^

I'm not asking rhetorically when I ask exactly what "this stuff' was...Also, I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on the federal investigation issue.  His players were involved in a complex situation in which a suspected drug dealer was being investigated by the FBI.  Not wanting to throw a wrench into that by reporting a violation of fairly stupid rules (though rules none-the-less, I agree) is sympathetic to me.  That by itself only merited a suspension of Tressel for four games at the most, I think. 

Yeoman

November 29th, 2011 at 7:00 PM ^

While Tressel was in such fear of telling anyone about his players' dealings with Rife because he might interfere with a federal investigation, what did he actually do?

  1. Inform a third party (Sarniak) about the investigation.
  2. Arrange with an attorney (Cicero) to have evidence removed and returned to his players.
  3. Discuss with the same attorney the importance of making sure his players didn't contact Rife by phone because they'd be in deep shit if they were caught in a wiretap.

Sure sounds like the actions of a man whose only interest is maintaining the integrity of a federal investigation, doesn't it?

Yeoman

November 29th, 2011 at 10:23 PM ^

...this was beaten to death at the time but apparently death wasn't enough: why are these rules stupid? Assuming you're going to have any amateurism rules at all, what's the difference between (1) paying players, and (2) giving players things of value that they can immediately monetize? That's a loophole you could drive a Corvette through; of course there's a rule in place to close it.

Belisarius

November 29th, 2011 at 4:52 PM ^

This way when OSU fires Meyer, they can make short work of their coaching search. They know a guy, an up and comer...turned a lowly MAC school around, wins games, recruits Ohio well...just the kind of guy who can take OSU to a national championship.

Seriously. This is their verge of the Pete Carroll NFL refuge scam. If they let Tressel's foot back in the door, he'll be at an AQ school within two years tops, running the same filthy cons.