OT: "Very Good Chance" Vrabel retires and joins Ohio State Staff

[DaBruinz]

Yes, just like Oregon, USC, NCarolina, and many other big time schools will.

However, those sanctions will have no bearing (or little bearing) on the future of the football program, besides losses of scholarships (which could be argued as being serious in the future).

Their Sugar bowl victory over Arkansas may also be 'taken away' whatever that really means in the big picture?

Tressel left...Pryor left...the others are serving a penalty which has already been agreed to by the NCAA of 5 games.

Future scholarships will be taken away, and possible games that have already been played will be forfeited (at worst).

What else can be done? Considering that Tressel resigned under the scrutiny, and Pryor also left. The NCAA doesn't have to do much else, considering they already lost their star coach, and star QB...for good.

In other words, OSU already made the worst-case scenario a reality...it can't get much worse, and since the majority of the sanctions were about those 2 people, their work will be somewhat easy to figure out. In the harshest punishment possible, they may not allow them to go to a major bowl for a yr or two, but since they are the winningest college football program in the last 15 years, it's still a pretty damn good job for the future (from Vrabel's perspective)

Couldn't they do to OSU what they did to SMU????

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Couldn't they do to OSU what they did to SMU????

In theory, I think so(apparently the school must be found guilty of major NCAA violations within five years of being on probation).
In reality, it's been said that the NCAA will never do it again except in the most extraordinary of cases (you know, something like players and coaches alike being involved in large-scale point shaving, etc.), because it basically destroyed the SMU program for something like 20 years.

 

[dhamz]

The only possible thing you could question about Vrabel taking the job now is it could be very temporary. Fickell is a 1 year interim guy and there will almost certainly be a new big name coach on the OSU sidleines in 2012 who will probably want to bring in his own staff.

 

[sbpatfan]

O$U better face serious sanctions. If it wasn't for those cheating bastards MSU would've went to the Rose Bowl against a more evenly matched TCU.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

The only possible thing you could question about Vrabel taking the job now is it could be very temporary. Fickell is a 1 year interim guy and there will almost certainly be a new big name coach on the OSU sidleines in 2012 who will probably want to bring in his own staff.

I'd like to see how that conversation would go down. . . .

 

[dhamz]

I'd like to see how that conversation would go down. . . .

It would probably go something like, "I'm Urban Meyer. I'm one of the winningest coaches in the history of the sport and I am here to tell you all your services are no longer needed."

 

[signbabybrady]

The only possible thing you could question about Vrabel taking the job now is it could be very temporary. Fickell is a 1 year interim guy and there will almost certainly be a new big name coach on the OSU sidleines in 2012 who will probably want to bring in his own staff.

Certainly an interesting point. But it would still leave him with his first year of coaching experience under his belt and he would have done it at his alma matta which is said to be a dream of his.

But Urban would probably be happy to keep him between Vrabel's Ohio state legacy and time spent in BBs system which Urban respects and I am sure has copied or patterned to some degree.

 

[goheels22002]

It would probably go something like, "I'm Urban Meyer. I'm one of the winningest coaches in the history of the sport and I am here to tell you all your services are no longer needed."

I think you have the wrong Meyer. It should be:

"Hello, I'm Ron Meyer. Most people remember me for sending the ex-con onto the field with a lawnmower to clear away snow for John Smith to kick a field goal against the Dolphins. But what I am really great at is cheating. I am the only coach to earn, but escape, the NCAA death penalty! Jim Tressel is a rank amateur compared to me. I know, Bobby Collins followed me as HC, but by then the cheating was so smooth and the cars and cash so great for the recruits, there was no stopping SMU! Urban Meyer? Puh-lease!"

 

[NEGoldenAge]

I'd like to see how that conversation would go down. . . .

If the conversation didn't go well, Vrabes would probably steal a bunch of beers on his way out. j/k, I love Vrabes

 

[ctpatsfan77]

From Robert Kraft at Patriots.com:

"Mike Vrabel was a key contributor to the most successful era in Patriots franchise history and I will forever be grateful. His performance in Super Bowl XXXVIII was MVP worthy and his touchdowns in back-to-back Super Bowls helped us win three championships in four years. During his Patriots career, there was no player more respected for his football intellect and revered for his leadership by his teammates than Mike. He was elected a team captain by his peers and is a player who I think everyone knew was destined to become a coach after his NFL playing career was over. I am thrilled for Mike and his family that his first coaching opportunity allows him to return home to coach at his alma mater, a school that he has always passionately supported. I am sure this is a dream come true for Mike and will be the start of a long and successful coaching career at Ohio State. I know I'll be rooting for him. Mike is a true Patriot."

 

[Patspsycho]

For once, PFT has done a very nice write up on Vrabel's retirement:

Upon his retirement, an ode to Mike Vrabel’s career | ProFootballTalk

After one particularly big win during the Patriots’ run early last decade, Bill Belichick warned his players about the media love they were about to receive.

“They’re going to come in here and blow smoke up your ass,” Belichick said according to Michael Holley’s excellent document on the era Patriot Reign. “They’re going to give you b–w jobs, tell you how great you are, they’re going to pile it on thick.”

Belichick finished his talk, looked at his players, and noticed Mike Vrabel’s hand was in the air.

“Yeah, Mike,” Belichick said.

“What was that you were saying about b–w jobs?”

The team died laughing. By all accounts, that moment is Vrabel in a nutshell. He was quick enough to make the joke, and knew he was respected enough by Belichick to pull it off. Vrabel had great instincts on the field and in the classroom; he knew Belichick got a kick out of him.

 

[supafly]

Couldn't they do to OSU what they did to SMU????

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Here is the most recent statement from today. "Ohio State has self imposed bans on themselves which includes forfeiting all games from the 2010 season when the violation occurred, and putting themselves on 2 years of probation."

They do not even bring up any 'real' or serious sanctions, such as any loss of scholarships, or banned post-season bowls. I believe they are leaving some room for the NCAA to take away some scholarships. The potential loss of a year or two of bowl eligibility would be an absolute, worst-case scenario, and if that is the route that the NCAA takes, it would then make it appear as though the NCAA really dropped the hammer on them.

To answer your question about probation violation and any mirroring of SMU's permanent blacklisting (for trading tattoos, and the HC lying about it, LOL) :

The Ohio St football program was under a 'probation' period which started in March of 2006, and ended directly after the 2008 season, consisting of 3 years.

NO, they would never have anything like that happen, not just b/c the SMU situation will never happen again, but b/c they just were not on probation at the time of any of these alleged concerns.

The dates of the first emails have been proven, and it is in relation to last season, or 2010.

 

[supafly]

Couldn't they do to OSU what they did to SMU????

Here is the full (short and sweet) article in regards to their sanctions imposed as of today. The main points are that Tressel was the only one who knew about any wrongdoing, and that Athletic Director Gene Smith has a good feel on any additional penalties, due to his closeness with the NCAA rules committee.

However, it should also be noted that AD Smith is the one who suggested to Tressel to step down and resign, so that may have been pretty much what the NCAA rules committee wanted all along.



"The Dispatch, citing sources close to the program, is reporting Ohio State will vacate wins from the 2010 season and place the program on probation for two years as part of self-imposed punishment in their response to the NCAA's Notice of Allegations.

Importantly, the school is not suggesting a loss of scholarships or any type of postseason ban.

The university submitted its response to the NCAA today, addressing allegations that then-coach Jim Tressel lied and allowed ineligible players to compete by failing to report that they had sold OSU-issued memorabilia to a tattoo-parlor owner.

Sources familiar with the university's response also told The Dispatch that Ohio State is admitting major violations of NCAA regulations, but says it should not face harsh punishment because no OSU official other than Tressel was aware of player violations.

This is pretty huge as I imagine most of us were bracing for something much worse. Of course, the NCAA could come back and say the punishment is not enough, but given athletic director Gene Smith's relationship with the organization and the close level of cooperation between the school and the NCAA, there's a chance that the two sides are somewhere in the vicinity of each other on the punishment side of things.

In somewhat related news, Jim Tressel's $250,000 fine has been waived, contradicting a statement from Smith last month that Tressel would still be on the hook for the fine."