“It’s been overly drawn out and he should have come out right away with all the information,” said Sam Privitera, of Mason. “It’s not the mistakes you make, it’s how you handle them. He just didn’t handle this well. It shouldn’t have come to this.”
Tressel was one of the most prominent coaches in college football and was likely the state’s most recognizable figure and its highest-paid public employee with a $3.5 million annual salary.
“Enough is enough when it comes to higher figures in sports,” Ben Reynolds, of Hamilton. “Unfortunately, this country is leaning toward letting people get away with things the average person can’t. If you’re a big sports figure in recent years, we’ve been overlooking things. If you have money or fame in this country, you can just about do anything you want and get away with it. It’s not going to stop until they put their foot down.”
“I like Jim Tressel. He’s always been a straight-ahead guy,” said Dana Disney, of Liberty Twp. “He’s always been a class guy running a class program and he takes it for the team and resigning after a great career. He probably could have coached there for a little while longer.
“On the other hand, I don’t agree with how college sports is run, either,” Disney said. “With the money that’s made and the players that are making it for the program. I think something’s going to have to happen, or else you’re going to have this more and more.”
“This is a university, we’re supposed to be teaching young men and women how to grow up and be leaders in our society,” Privitera said. “What kind of example would it be to keep him in that role? It’s disappointing because he’s a really good coach. In life, you make short-term decisions and reap the long-term results. He missed a real opportunity, he could have been there for a long time and make the state proud, but he made some pretty serious mistakes.”
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