Tressel and BCS games

[NCBLUE]

Does oSU's better than expected performance against Texas keep the heat off of Tressel or will his record in big showcase games the last 3 seasons still keep the media and fans on his back ?

[W0lv3r1n3]

If anything there's more heat on him since everyone expected this to be the year they went all of the way. This OSU team had as much on paper talent as OSU will probably ever have, unfortunately come day game that doesn't matter.

[ironhide]

Come on, the guy is good. He is a tremendous motivator, if nothing else. But there is something else, he is a good game time strategist. I do not know what has gone wrong in the big games, however. He seems to just soar until he runs in to any multi-dimensional team that can execute. Then he flops. But he is still a great coach.
We do not have to kick ourselves at UM for not having him, but MSU sure does! They passed on this guy, as did Notre Dame, Indiana, Illinois, and a host of other schools.

[W0lv3r1n3]

he is a good game time strategist.

That's probably the only thing he isn't.

[BlueSpread]

jim tressel is lloyd carr's bastard son. won a NC and he's gonna sit on it 'till he retires.

[eyesoftexas]

jim tressel is lloyd carr's bastard son. won a NC and he's gonna sit on it 'till he retires.

Mack Brown predicted a NC for JT with Pryor. Maybe he sees a repeat of what Vince Young did for Texas. A better comparison than JT to Carr would be JT to Bob Stoops. Stoops, like Tressel, has one NC, but has a worse BCS record than JT.

[The Michigan Man]

Mack Brown predicted a NC for JT with Pryor. Maybe he sees a repeat of what Vince Young did for Texas. A better comparison than JT to Carr would be JT to Bob Stoops. Stoops, like Tressel, has one NC, but has a worse BCS record than JT.

Brown was just being generous - that is easy when you just beat the team you are trying to pay a compliment to.

[Silver Bullet]

The last 3 years have been disappointing for OSU with respect to BCS games, no doubt. But who in the B10 has been routinely winning their bowls? Um beat Florida which was a great win, but when did they last win a bowl prior to that? As a fan, I can't put any more blame on Tressel when it's obvious that the B10 just plain can't compete with other schools' talent. If it was only OSU losing then I would say everyone has a point, but to fire a coach like Tressel because one of his 1 or 2 losses every year is BCS game is insane.

This guy runs a great program that has seen graduation rates and GPA's soar under his watch. The facility upgrades that the program has undergone are the envy of most schools in the nation and he is signing the top Ohio kids and bringing in top OOS recruits every year. What's not to like? The fact that Tressel is really starting to lock down some top national recruits will hopefully bring OSU in line with the rest of the country. Even if it doesn't however, I always say that there are 118 (I think) teams in the country that aren't Mythical National Champions every year. Should there be 118 firings every year?

[Silver Bullet]

The last 3 years have been disappointing for OSU with respect to BCS games, no doubt. But who in the B10 has been routinely winning their bowls? Um beat Florida which was a great win, but when did they last win a bowl prior to that? As a fan, I can't put any more blame on Tressel when it's obvious that the B10 just plain can't compete with other schools' talent. If it was only OSU losing then I would say everyone has a point, but to fire a coach like Tressel because one of his 1 or 2 losses every year is BCS game is insane.

This guy runs a great program that has seen graduation rates and GPA's soar under his watch. The facility upgrades that the program has undergone are the envy of most schools in the nation and he is signing the top Ohio kids and bringing in top OOS recruits every year. What's not to like? The fact that Tressel is really starting to lock down some top national recruits will hopefully bring OSU in line with the rest of the country. Even if it doesn't however, I always say that there are 118 (I think) teams in the country that aren't Mythical National Champions every year. Should there be 118 firings every year?

I guess the fact that I even forgot to mention beating Um almost every year shows much I take his achievements for granted.

[The Michigan Man]

The last 3 years have been disappointing for OSU with respect to BCS games, no doubt. But who in the B10 has been routinely winning their bowls? Um beat Florida which was a great win, but when did they last win a bowl prior to that? As a fan, I can't put any more blame on Tressel when it's obvious that the B10 just plain can't compete with other schools' talent. If it was only OSU losing then I would say everyone has a point, but to fire a coach like Tressel because one of his 1 or 2 losses every year is BCS game is insane.

This guy runs a great program that has seen graduation rates and GPA's soar under his watch. The facility upgrades that the program has undergone are the envy of most schools in the nation and he is signing the top Ohio kids and bringing in top OOS recruits every year. What's not to like? The fact that Tressel is really starting to lock down some top national recruits will hopefully bring OSU in line with the rest of the country. Even if it doesn't however, I always say that there are 118 (I think) teams in the country that aren't Mythical National Champions every year. Should there be 118 firings every year?

JT is transforming into Mike Shanahan. At some point, it is going to cease to impress the fanbase that JT beat Michigan every year (like Shanahan beat Oakland). The fact is fans want championships, and no one cares that JT won one 7 years ago (like Shanahan won SBs last decade) with another coach's players.

I'm guessing that transforming a top 5 recruiting class into a 10-15 place finish and a bowl loss every year is not going to fly much longer, especially when RR gets his players and playbook rolling at Michigan...

[NCBLUE]

Interesting take...

I just asked the question.

He recruits well, he develops talent, his teams are disciplined and is winning consistantly against his main rival. However he is not a good strategist, does not make in game adjustments well, recently not had his teams ready in big games and comparitively speaking has been out coached in big games recently.

Personally I think he is a very good coach but not an elite coach.

Saying all that he should not be fired. One of the problems with some of the fan bases in college football (not just @ oSU) are unrealistic expectations.

Out of 119 schools winning a national championship is special and maybe a dozen teams at the start of the year even have a chance.

I do wonder if he needs to make some staff changes to get to the next level, seems like fans are not satisfied with Big Ten Championships (especially if the nation considers the conference watered down).

[bigboyBlue]

Look at it this way, Lloyd was pretty consistently making Jan 1 bowl games; if he was regularly or even 50% of the time beating OSU, would we have called for his head? Probably not, so Lloyd was just about an additional win a year away from being a quality coach. As fun as it is to win the Big One every now and then, I would prefer to have a consistenly damn good program that competes well, recruits well, graduates its students and (this is important from my perspective) send a healthy number of kids to the NFL every year.

In other words, something like Oklahoma, Florida, USC, Texas....and....no, can't say it :(.

[Silver Bullet]

Interesting take...

I just asked the question.

He recruits well, he develops talent, his teams are disciplined and is winning consistantly against his main rival. However he is not a good strategist, does not make in game adjustments well, recently not had his teams ready in big games and comparitively speaking has been out coached in big games recently.

Personally I think he is a very good coach but not an elite coach.

Saying all that he should not be fired. One of the problems with some of the fan bases in college football (not just @ oSU) are unrealistic expectations.

Out of 119 schools winning a national championship is special and maybe a dozen teams at the start of the year even have a chance.

I do wonder if he needs to make some staff changes to get to the next level, seems like fans are not satisfied with Big Ten Championships (especially if the nation considers the conference watered down).

The thing is, you just can't go out and hire an "Elite" coach. If OSU fired Tressel, who do they hire? Meyer? Sorry, but I want no part of that scumbag. OSU would win, but they would be selling their souls. I guess it depends who you say is elite. Honestly, I think Tressel is a VERY good coach, I really think B10 teams are at a disadvantage personnel wise. He may not be good enough to overcome these discrepancies in personnel, but who is? RR? Ferentz? Paterno? Dantonio? Ferentz is the only one that held his own this postseason and nobody is calling that guy elite. OSU overachieved for a couple years with a terrible quarterback and horrible defensive line. I like what I'm seeing from the young guys and if Texas is a measuring stick, the team is coming around (compared to USC).

Look at what Tressel did at Youngstown, when the personnel was at a level playing field. He dominated because he was smarter than any other coach with similar talent. The guy can coach and transforms the kids into better adults once they leave. I know about Clarret, but he didn't go off the deep end until Tressel wasn't around.

I would like them to hire a new O-line coach. There is no way that this line should have been so terrible this year. I would also like to see them bring in some sort of adviser to help with offensive schemes and planning or to even call the plays. None of this will happen because he's too loyal to his coaches and would feel meaningless if he wasn't running the offense.

[osusteve]

At least with Coach Tressel we have a guy who is loyal to the institution and is not looking at other coaching opportunities every year. That creates stability with the program.
Guys like Meyer and Saban are great but how long are they really going to be at their respective schools?

[rickyleach]

what did you expect, tressel is the coach, and anything outside the big10 is a problem for him, thats to bad cause the country was starting to think tressel was one of the great coaches, well we cant always be right, and he does do a good job, unless it is againast a quality team.. hey but what the heck ,next year osu has pryor who can run like hell ,but cant pass, he should be fun to watch though, osu at 9 and 3 could be in a bcs bowl in 2009, now that would be funny. but really who else is there in the big10

[gator]

Guys like Meyer and Saban are great but how long are they really going to be at their respective schools?

That's an interesting point. I'm completely with you on Saban except I actually think he's where he want's to be....some school (it doesn't matter to him) that pays him $4,000,000 per. What other school's going to top that offer and pick up a buyout.

As far as Meyer, I only worry that he becomes bored. It's almost coming too easy for him at this point. He has two NC's in 4 years, and he's got a great team coming back. It's looking even more probable that Spikes and Harvin may be coming back for another year with Tebow. If, and this is always a big if, he wins his third in 5 years...does he get bored and want another challenge, say like Notre Dame? I was relieved to hear Whittingham tell Jim Rome that he doesn't think Meyer will ever try the NFL. Obviosly he can't speak for Meyer and people do change, but he thought Meyer really loves college ball and is satisfied there. At any rate, Meyer is always talking about his kids and providing a stable home life for them, i.e. not making them change schools and leave all their friends. He said when he got here that he planned to coach here until all his kids were at least through high school. If that's true, he should be here at least another five or six years.

[RADRACING]

College football is a "what have you done lately" deal if he beats USC everyone will forget the last few years.