ShareThisCOLUMBUS, Ohio - Jim Tressel has resigned as head football coach at Ohio State.
In a statement released to the media Monday morning, Tressel said, "After meeting with university officials, we agreed that it is in the best interest of Ohio State that I resign as head football coach. The appreciation that (wife) Ellen and I have for the Buckeye Nation is immeasurable."
Tressel has been under fire recently for apparently lying to the NCAA about his knowledge of some of his players selling memorabilia and then allowing those players to play in the 2010 season. Tressel had already been suspended by the university for the first five games of the upcoming season.
The university announced that Luke Fickell will serve as interim head coach for the upcoming season and that the search to find Tressel's full-time replacement will not begin until after the season has ended.
"We look forward to refocusing the football program on doing what we do best -- representing this extraordinary university and its values on the field, in the classroom, and in life," OSU athletic director Gene Smith said. "We look forward to supporting Luke Fickell in his role as our football coach. We have full confidence in his ability to lead our football program."
Tressel recently hired a lawyer who specializes in NCAA cases, which many took as a sign the embattled coach was prepared to fight for his job. He was scheduled to meet with NCAA officials in September.
Last week, former Buckeye receiver Ray Small (2006-09) told the school's student newspaper that while he was at OSU he sold his Big Ten championship rings for cash. Small also said many players on the team received deals on cars.
"In consultation with the senior leadership of the Board of Trustees, I have been actively reviewing matters attendant to our football program, and I have accepted Coach Tressel's resignation," said President E. Gordon Gee. "The university's enduring public purposes and its tradition of excellence continue to guide our actions."
(Contact Ryan Autullo at rautullo(at)theblade.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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