Whatever happens from here in Ohio State's quest to salvage the 2011 season, the short-term future of the program and the professional viability of its embattled head coach, its chances of restoring Jim Tressel's cred as an honest, upstanding leader who exudes integrity have left the building. On the heels of formal allegations by the NCAA that Tressel repeatedly, deliberately covered up knowledge of violations by multiple players last year, even Ohio is split down the middle on whether "The Senator" should stay or go; the rest of the country has no such doubts.
While the Ohio State haters are out for blood, though, there's more at stake for Tressel than just his team and reputation: The man's on the verge of losing his paycheck, too. And you can forget all that "buyout" business ? if the university sees fit to fire him for cause, it won't owe Tressel a cent:
Jim Tressel could lose a ton of cash ? $3.7 million a year ? if he resigns or is fired over his role in the Tattoogate mess at Ohio State University.
Tressel is scheduled to earn that much annually through 2014, according to his contract obtained by Columbus Business First from Ohio State, but the university could be off the hook for paying him if the coach is found to have violated any of its termination-for-cause provisions.
[…]
Besides the $3.7 million in annual pay, plus other benefits, the contract promises him a job as associate athletics director, at an annual salary of $150,000, when he retires as football coach. It also includes a provision that says Tressel is not entitled to further compensation or benefits if he is fired for cause.
Recall for a moment exactly what it is Tressel is accused of ?�failing to report specific knowledge of likely NCAA violations by multiple players for at least nine months, at one point signing a compliance form that stated he had no knowledge of any possible violations and later keeping his mouth shut when the violations were brought to Ohio State's attention from outside the program last December ? and then note some of the specific provisions in his contract that would allow the university to fire Tressel with cause:
? "Fraud and dishonesty in performance of his duties or responsibilities under this agreement."
? "Fraud or dishonesty in preparing, falsifying, submitting or altering documents or records of Ohio State, NCAA or the Big Ten conference … or permitting, encouraging or condoning such fraudulent or dishonest acts by any other person, provided that Coach had actual knowledge of such fraudulent or dishonest acts or reasonably should have known about such fraudulent or dishonest acts."
? "Counseling or instructing by Coach of any coach, student or other person to fail to respond accurately and fully within a reasonable time to any reasonable request or inquiry concerning a matter relevant to Ohio State's athletic programs…"
? "Failure by Coach to report promptly to the Director in writing any violations known to Coach of governing athletic rules or Ohio State rules and regulations by Coach, the assistant coaches, students or other persons under the direct supervision of Coach."
? "Commission of or participation in by Coach of any act, situation, or occurrence which, in Ohio State's reasonable judgment, brings Coach into public disrepute, contempt, scandal or ridicule or failure by Coach to conform his personal conduct to conventional standards of good citizenship… including but not limited to, acts of dishonesty, misrepresentation, fraud or violence that may not rise to a level warranting criminal prosecution by the relevant authorities."
Tressel signed his current deal in 2006, shortly before Ohio State was ordered to pay $2.4 million for wrongful termination of ex-basketball coach Jim O'Brien, who was fired in 2004 after admitting to loaning a recruit $6,000. I suppose that's what you get when you negotiate a contract at the same time your employer is in the process of losing a court case against a former rogue employee: Boilerplate that reads like a university lawyer looked into the future and described every conceivable offense from half a dozen different, equally damning perspectives.
Ohio State doesn't go before the NCAA Committee on Infractions until Aug. 12, by which point it will be effectively locked into Tressel for at least the 2011 campaign, and it won't learn the actual damage until months later, likely after the regular season. Once the verdict is in, the university will have a decision to make. But if that decision is to drop the ax, it doesn't take a visionary lawyer to see it has the justification it needs to protect the coffers.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
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