Ohio State AD Gene Smith "Still Backing" Tressel

Still has The Vest's back

At the Big Ten spring meetings Wednesday, Smith -- while declining to discuss any details of the ongoing NCAA investigation of Tressel -- affirmed his support for the coach, who is entering his 11th season with the Buckeyes.

Smith noted last month in an interview with The Associated Press that Tressel should have apologized at the infamous March 8 news conference, where Tressel acknowledged he failed to notify Ohio State officials of emails he received about some of his players receiving improper benefits.

Smith has also talked about the high legal costs Ohio State is dealing with, calling the ongoing NCAA situation "a nightmare," and confirmed Wednesday that Tressel is responsible for his own lawyers. Tressel, who makes around $3.5 million per season, has hired Gene Marsh to represent him before the NCAA's committee on infractions on Aug. 12 in Indianapolis. Marsh, a member of the NCAA's infractions committee for nine years and chairman for two, is an Ohio State graduate. He has said he never attended a Buckeyes football game during his years as a student.

Meanwhile, at the Big Ten conferences themselves, Tressel and the rest of the Buckeye staff has stayed out of the spotlight and has lied low. I truly believe this is the best thing they can do right now, as any of the past Buckeye news headliners have mostly been bad.

People are tired of hearing about the NCAA and what they are going to do to Ohio State when August comes down to it. We're going to get hit hard, folks, and that may mean not winning 6 straight Big Ten Championships again for awhile. That's if Tressel stays. If Tressel is gone, well then a whole new can of worms is opened. While his contract lasts through the '14 season, I (and many other fans) tend to agree that he will be stepping down much earlier, maybe as soon as '12. 

Tressel has also talked a little bit about the renewed Ohio State-Michigan rivalry, with the addition of another Wolverine coach in Brady Hoke. Hoke has really tried to get UM fans back into it by calling us "Ohio" and doing many things Tressel did when he first came to OSU from Youngstown State. Tressel is obviously getting bored winning blowouts, as he said about the Hoke hiring:

 "Brady's awesome," Tressel said. "Anything that's good for the Ohio State-Michigan game, I'm for it. And Brady's good for it."