With Jim Tressel resigning as the Ohio State head coach over not reporting NCAA violations of football players selling memorabilia-for-tattoos and the ongoing investigation of Ohio State players who may have received special deals from Aaron Kniffin who is a Columbus-based used car salesman. Oh, do not forget the SSports Illustrated article by George Dorhmann about Ohio State, which is expected to be published Monday afternoon or even Tuesday.
In the mean time, Luke Fickell will take over as the 2011 interim coach for the Buckeyes, but names are already swirling about who will take over in 2012. Odds are that Fickell will not be the man because he has never been a head coach on any level, and unless he guides the Buckeyes to at least a Rose Bowl win he will not be back.
The usual suspects are on the list with odds from Bodog.com:
Urban Meyer 3/2
Mark Stoops 5/2
Jon Gruden 3/1
Bo Pelini 10/1
Mark Dantonio 12/1
Par for the course, but ESPN's Bruce Feldman has another list that includes TCU head coach Gary Patterson as a possible replacement for Jim Tressel:
The 51-year-old Patterson has elevated TCU into a legit big-time program by winning an eye-catching 66 games in the past six years. No head man working in the college game is any more driven than the Kansas native. He is very hands-on running practice and developing his players into a tough, physical, disciplined team. His style would play well in Columbus.
Patterson would be a good fit with the type of defense he built at TCU over the years, but he is in a great spot moving to the Big East where the pressure will be less and a league that TCU can be in contention to win each year. Patterson limited coaching ties to the Midwest outside of going to Kansas State and being a graduate assistant for one season in 1982.
The payday would be a reason to jump, but why make that move where the pressure would be extremely high where Big 10 titles and BCS bowl games would be the expected each year by the fan base. Plus, consider the outcome of the NCAA's findings which may include scholarship reductions and post season bans.
With what Patterson has built and the impending move to the Big East, he has it too good to make a jump to a program that is on shaky ground which could require a massive rebuilding project if the NCAA drops the hammer against Ohio State.
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