Gambo: Rolling the dice – Tressel’s gamble

Let’s, just for argument’s sake, say that you are the head coach of a football team that just went 11-2. Your team is coming off a season in which they won the Rose Bowl by beating Oregon 26-17. You beat five 10-win teams this season. And you have most of your key starters coming back, including your quarterback. By the way you enter the next season as preseason #2, so you have a real legitimate shot at winning the National Championship.

Then some of your kids do something stupid. They sell memorabilia that is theirs to some guy who owns a tattoo parlor, which if the NCAA finds out about will deem it illegal and punish the kids and the university. You get a tip about what your players are doing in the form of an email from an attorney.

What you are supposed to do is to tell your athletic director and the school’s compliance office about it. But you know that by doing so your quarterback and some of your players are going to be suspended. You have no idea how long they are going to be suspended for, but you know it’s likely going to be several games.

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