The one truth in college athletics — and probably more so in football — is that you must recruit a certain type of player to win. That is, if you want to keep your job. You must take chances on players. Hello, Terrelle Pryor.
It can make you rich, successful and lauded. It also can get you unemployed. Just ask Jim Tressel.
Recommended Stories
And the end for Tressel and this run of dominance at Ohio State is not unlike what happened at other elite programs.
Notre Dame » Lou Holtz won a national title with the Irish in 1988, led them to a 64-9-1 record between 1988 and 1993 and took them to a school-record nine consecutive bowl games. But Notre Dame landed on probation shortly thereafter and hasn’t been a significant power since.
Miami » Dennis Erickson ended Miami’s glorious stint at the top with shady maneuvers. Though it only had one infraction between 1987 and 2007, it was a big one: a program involving fraudulent Pell Grants. The result: three years of probation, 31 scholarships lost over three seasons and no big games since losing the 2002 national championship.
USC » Pete Carroll exited just in time after his successful run, but even his legacy is tainted by allegations and a four-year probation, mostly stemming from illegal benefits given to Reggie Bush among others.
Alabama » Gene Stallings won a national title at Alabama in 1992, but there were allegations about players being paid, another had signed with an agent only to play the following season and there were unsecured loans. Eventually the Crimson Tide received five years of probation, the loss of nearly two dozen scholarships and a two-year postseason ban. Two years ago, the NCAA called the program a “serial repeat violator” and that it had an “abysmal infractions track record.”
Oklahoma » Pick an era and there’s a safe bet that the Sooners have been in trouble with the NCAA, often involving money going to players. Players had jobs in which they did no work but were paid thousands, the latest example in 2007 under Bob Stoops. But a lot of money was exchanged during the Barry Switzer era.
