Sports

Tressel quits Ohio State amid embarrassing tattoo scandal

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Jim Tressel, who guided Ohio State to its first national title in 34 years, resigned yesterday amid NCAA violations from a tattoo-parlor scandal that sullied the image of one of the country’s top football programs.

“After meeting with university officials, we agreed that it is in the best interest of Ohio State that I resign as head football coach,” Tressel said in a statement released by the university. “The appreciation that [wife] Ellen and I have for the Buckeye Nation is immeasurable.”

Luke Fickell will be the coach for the 2011 season. He already had been selected to be the interim coach while Tressel served a five-game suspension.

Ohio State spokesman Jim Lynch said he was unaware of any buyout or severance package. He added that Tressel had returned from vacation Sunday night and met with athletic director Gene Smith, who then met with staff. Tressel typed his resignation and submitted it to Smith, he said.

Under terms of Tressel’s contract, which was worth around $3.5 million a year through the 2014 season, Ohio State is not required to pay him any money or provide any benefits upon his resignation.

In a university video posted on YouTube.com, Smith said Tressel met with his Buckeyes players yesterday morning.

“Coach Tressel did what we all knew he would do,” Smith said. “He did an eloquent job of explaining to the young men what transition really means and what they really needed to focus on. So he met with the team and exited.”

Clearly, the turmoil had been building. The resignation comes nearly three months after Ohio State called a news conference to announce it has suspended Tressel for two games — later increasing the ban to five games to coincide with the players’ punishment — and fined him $250,000 for knowing his players had received improper benefits from a local tattoo-parlor owner. The school said at the time it was “very surprised and disappointed” in Tressel.

Tressel’s downfall came with public and media pressure mounting on Ohio State, its board of trustees, President E. Gordon Gee and Smith.

Tressel and Ohio State were to go before the NCAA’s infractions committee Aug. 12 to answer questions about the player violations and why Tressel did not report them. He denied knowledge of improper benefits to players until confronted by investigators with emails that showed he had known since April 2010.

After several NCAA violations by him or his players over the years, Tressel’s problems deepened after learning several players — including star quarterback Terrelle Pryor — received cash or discounted tattoos.

The 58-year-old Tressel had a record of 106-22-0 at Ohio State. He led the Buckeyes to eight Bowl Championship Series games in his 10 years. In his second year, in 2002, with a team led by freshman tailback Maurice Clarett, the Buckeyes went 14-0 and defeated top-ranked Miami in the Fiesta Bowl to clinch their first national title since 1968.

Combined with a 135-57-2 record in 15 years at Youngstown State, where he won four Division I-AA national championships, Tressel’s career mark was 241-79-2.