? Don't say anything you wouldn't say in front of a recruit. Even Ohio State doesn't dispute that Jim Tressel committed major NCAA violations by sitting on information that could have cost him multiple starters before last year's Big Ten championship run, and then by specifically denying that knowledge when the hammer fell on the players in December. Even the student paper wants him fired. Tressel's coaching colleagues, on the other hand, have been falling all over themselves since Tuesday night's mea culpa to reinforce the Senator's reputation as a paragon of virtue:
? Bob Knight, Ohio State alum, Hall-of-Fame basketball coach turned ESPN analyst: "There is no coach in college sports that's a better example, in my mind, of what coaching is all about and what it should be and how things should be done than Jimmy Tressel. He has done a great job at Ohio State, not because he's won a lot of games, but because he has won a lot of games doing things the absolute right way. … There isn't anybody who is better in that regard than Jim Tressel is."
? Rich Rodriguez, former Michigan coach and Tressel whipping boy: "In my experience in three years of recruiting against them we didn't sense that, hey, Ohio State is one of these schools that are on the edge. … Some people would think Ohio State-Michigan is such a big rivalry, they probably did a lot of negative recruiting. They didn't. There were other schools that did, but they didn't, and that to me sends a message they're trying to do things the right way."
? Brady Hoke, recently appointed embodiment of the "Michigan Man": "I've known Jim Tressel a long time,. He's a quality guy, a doggone good football coach."
? Jim Calhoun, UConn basketball coach and NCAA violations vet: "You don't want people to think that [the NCAA violation] is who you are. Whatever it does to a reputation, a legacy, he's been one heck of a coach."
Of course, a few fans are also in Tressel's corner. Mainly, though, the love fest reinforces the old truth: The only coaches you will ever hear say anything negative in public about another coach, specifically, are Steve Spurrier and the immortal John Chaney.
Then there's another immortal, former Oklahoma coach and patron saint of NCAA anarchy Barry Switzer, who defends Tressel to the Wall Street Journal on entirely different grounds: "Jim Tressel's situation, that's jaywalking to me," Switzer said. "These things don't surprise me. This stuff has gone on forever." Amen. [Inside the Hall, Detroit News, ESPN, Wall Street Journal]
? Next man in. Meanwhile, back in Columbus, consensus buzz has anointed co-defensive coordinator Luke Fickell as Tressel's likely stand-in during the head coach's two-game suspension in September, or longer if the NCAA decides to tack on more games. Fickell, 37, started as a defensive lineman at Ohio State under John Cooper from 1992-96, and according to the Columbus Dispatch has "just four minor rules violations in 10 years as an Ohio State assistant," the last one coming in 2005. That's not a bad record, actually. [Columbus Dispatch]
? Just a scare. A plane carrying eight Marshall football coaches was forced to make an emergency landing in Kentucky Wednesday because of malfunctioning landing gear, briefly raising the ghosts of the infamous 1970 crash that killed most of the Thundering Herd's players and coaches. "You grow up hearing about [the 1970 crash] for 40 years," said assistant coach Phil Ratliff, a two-time I-AA All-American at Marshall in the late eighties. "For this to happen 40 years later, it was just unbelievable. We were all praying. It was calm, but we were definitely praying. It was a situation that you never want to go ? thinking about your family, having your life go before your eyes. It was just unbelievable." There were no injuries, and head coach Doc Holliday wasn't one of the coaches on board. [Huntington Herald-Dispatch]
? Recruiting giveth, and taketh away. North Carolina signee Delvon Simmons, a top-100 defensive tackle recruit from Pennsylvania and the highest-rated member of the Tar Heels' incoming recruiting class, has asked for a release from his letter intent to UNC, according to his high school coach. Simmons' change of heart could be a result of a coaching change ? short-lived defensive line coach Brian Baker, hired in January, left days after signing day for a job with the Dallas Cowboys ?�but his former coach said no other schools are calling until Simmons gets his release.
? Money well spent. Notre Dame and Navy's 2012 date in Dublin, Ireland, will be part of a full weekend of American football on the Emerald Isle, now including a pair of high schools: Notre Dame High in Sherman Oaks (Calif.) and Hamilton High of Chandler (Ariz.) have agreed to an overseas game on Aug. 31, the day before the Irish and Midshipmen square off, with more high school additions to the bill still in the works. Both schools have Notre Dame ties: ND High in Sherman Oaks produced two current Irish players, quarterback Dayne Crist and linebacker Anthony McDonald, and Hamilton is coached by Steve Belles, a backup quarterback on the Irish's 1988 national championship team. Just, you know, make sure the actual Irish know which Notre Dame is which, huh? [Rivals High]
Quickly… Washington running back Johri Fogerson is suspended indefinitely after last week's marijuana arrest. … Texas welcomes Tray Allen back to the offensive line. … Alabama's latest quarterback target is Jim Kelly's nephew. … Former Crimson Tide refugee Star Jackson is part of a wider house-cleaning at Georgia State. …Florida will unveil its holy Heisman trinity at halftime of the spring game on April 9. … Nebraska tries to figure out where Tim Beck is coming from. … Mississippi State tries to turn defensive tackle James Carmon into an offensive tackle. … And Tyler Sash takes out a camera man.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
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