It's no secret that sports is all about leadership, whether that leadership comes from the best athletes, coaches, even commissioners and owners. Their voices are sturdy and commanding in the huddle or the boardroom. They lead and teach by example, and they usually make the difference between winning and losing.
There are plenty of gifted sports leaders, especially among the players. LeBron James, Derek Jeter, and Peyton Manning, for example, are naturals. After last night's classic Game 2 of the NBA Finals, in which Dallas erased a 15-point deficit over the last seven minutes to win 95-93, and tie the series, who wouldn't want to rally behind Dirk Nowitzki?
But at the very top of some significant sporting institutions these days, we're witnessing a stunning leadership void. And if it continues, the results could be disastrous. (See pictures of Mavs' owner Mark Cuban.)
The Jim Tressel saga, for instance, won't inspire much confidence in the multi-millionaire coaches who are the public faces of many universities. Tressel, the Ohio State head coach who resigned under pressure, on May 30th, after lying to school administrators about his prior knowledge of players trading memorabilia for cash and tattoos — and before a Sports Illustrated story alleged that the misconduct was much broader than previously believed — was phony. He penned a book, The Winners Manual, which espoused strong character and the moral high ground. "Discipline is what you do when no one else is looking," Tressel wrote. Turns out, Tressel wrote the book on hypocrisy.
Tressel's misdeeds, however, should raise more important questions about the role sports plays in higher education. Where was the leadership of Ohio State president Gordon Gee, a man who abolished the athletic department at Vanderbilt in an effort to better meld athletics with academics, yet seemed to cater to Tressel's whims once he got to a big-time football school like Ohio State, and even as the allegations against Tressel began to pile up over recent months. "I hope he doesn't fire me," Gee infamously stated in March, as the charges against Tressel were growing more severe, when asked if he would consider firing the coach. A college president — president — actually said that, in public? That's leadership? (See the top 10 Heisman Trophy winners.)
And there's a broader problem. The salaries for college football and basketball coaches keep skyrocketing. And as long as these multi-million dollar contracts are available, coaches will have huge incentives to skirt the rules. Which college president is going to stop using the market as an excuse, and refuse to overpay for a college coach? Who is going to resist the catcalls of the boosters and alums and make the fiscally responsible choice, and funnel some of those millions into actual education? College coaching is a consuming, and risky, career. You could get fired in a couple of years. The coaches deserve hefty compensation, but for every $2 million coach out there, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of qualified candidates who can also do a great job, for a fraction of that price. And where is the NCAA? Shouldn't that organization be trying to fix the root of the problem about so-called corruption, and admit that the young athletes bringing in millions to these universities aren't "amateurs?" That if you shared the wealth, maybe they wouldn't be hanging out with shady tattoo dealers to grab some extra spending cash?
Still, it's one thing for college sports, a uniquely American obsession, to be broken. It's quite another for the world's most popular sport to be so screwed up. If global football can't install a functional, professional leadership structure, what does that say about the state of sports leadership? FIFA, the world football governing body, is engulfed in scandal. High-level officials have been accused of offering money in exchange for votes in the organization's presidential election. Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA, was accused of knowing about these bribe offers, though an ethics committee eventually cleared him. The integrity of the decision to award the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively, has been called into question: in an email, FIFA's general secretary wrote that Qatar "bought" the vote (the official explained that he was just referring to Qatar's well-financed campaign).
In the wake of Jim Tressel's forced resignation, Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor is under NCAA investigation for his use of a succession of used cars. Pryor has already been suspended for the first five games of 2011 for accepting cash and tattoos from a tattoo parlor owner who has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and money-laundering charges. Is Pryor going down?
Is Pryor going down? Absolutely. But, as history has shown us, not without "making a deal" first.
Reportedly, in his three years at Ohio State, Pryor has tooled around Columbus in no less than eight vehicles from no less than three dealerships. According to the owners of each dealership, it's all well and good, because they have said that all transactions were cleared through OSU's compliance department. Never mind that "OSU Compliance Department" is the biggest oxymoron in college athletics history. OSU Compliance is a lot like Pryor himself — neither can say "no." But let's not be overly critical of the OSU Compliance Department. It is, in fact, the hardest-working department in the university, as well as its largest employer of the blind.
If the compliance department, did, in fact, approve all of Pryor's used car transactions, then there is a rubber stamp somewhere within the department with a lot of explaining to do. Yes, they looked the other way. They looked every other way but "at" Pryor. It's a stunning example of the lengths an institution will go to keep their money maker happy. And it sure did take a lot to keep Pryor happy.
Pryor doesn't seem to be alarmed, or worried at all, by the NCAA investigation. Not long after reports indicated Pryor was under investigation, he casually rolled up to a meeting at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center (where employees still have to "punch" in) driving a Nissan 350Z with temporary tags, and a sound system blaring Gary Numan's "Cars." Okay, so Pryor's never heard of Gary Numan, or subtlety, for that matter. So let's amend the statement. He arrived in a car with a sound system blasting Chamillionaire's "Ridin' Dirty."
In all seriousness, Pryor didn't need music to herald his coming. Heck, he's the most watched athlete in Ohio, and that doesn't even include his time on the football field. Maybe a bicycle would have been a more discreet, and wiser, manner of arrival. In a sports car? Not smart. Pryor apparently has no intention of hiding, and every intention of flaunting, the so-called spoils of his fame. Sure, he's been known to blaze a trail. Now, he's known more for leaving a trail.
Pryor shouldn't have been driving. Not only because it gave the impression that he was thumbing his nose at investigators. No, Pryor shouldn't have been driving because he didn't have a valid license. Pryor's license was suspended because he failed to provide proof of insurance after a February 19th traffic stop for a stop-sign violation (let's assume the dual-threat Pryor "ran it" or just "passed" right through it). This charge is one of three traffic violations Pryor has had in the last three years. As a football player, Pryor would be classified as "driven." Maybe that should apply to his transportation methods as well. If not, then get the OSU sousaphone player to dot the "i" in "bike," pronto. Before Pryor kills himself, a pedestrian, or a university.
Would an athlete concerned about the outcome of such an investigation be dumb enough to be seen driving a sports car, knowing it wouldn't appear supportive of his defense? No. Pryor, obviously, is not concerned about the outcome of his investigation. Could his behavior been any worse? Well, yes. He could have popped out of his ride and proudly displayed his new tattoo, and introduced onlookers to his newly-hired agent, and whipped out a trunk-load of OSU memorabilia, and, to top it all off, produced a smoking gun, unlicensed, of course.
Indeed, Pryor's shenanigans, especially when viewed in conjunction with OSU's other problems, are downright comical. Pryor's a running quarterback. He's also a running joke.
While nearly all of Pryor's actions have been unwise, he is by no means dumb. He is, on the contrary, a manipulative shyster who preys on the desires of those eager to rub shoulders with greatness, or in this case, a superior athlete and horrible driver posing as "greatness." He's conquered the trifecta of shady persons relationships, with a tattoo parlor owner, used car salesmen, and Ohio State coaches. Pryor's a master salesman. He's sold himself to everyone but the devil, but I bet the devil will soon be wearing some OSU memorabilia. Hell may not be his next destination, but there is some form of purgatory in his future. May that purgatory be a disastrous NFL career? His athleticism gives him the potential to be the next Daunte Culpepper, but his irresponsibility saddles him with the certainty of becoming the next JaMarcus Russell.
Pryor's free reign of freebies is a testament to the lack of vigilance on behalf of OSU and the NCAA. It's oversight with too much oversight. OSU's compliance department has no valid excuse when it comes to explaining their actions. Did they blindly approve certain transactions while knowing the dealings were questionable, at best, and non-compliant, at worst? If so, they were wrong. Did they follow proper procedure and still approve Pryor's transactions? If so, that may be an even more egregious error. Whatever the case, a complete overhaul of the departments operating procedures is in order.
What, then, could be the reasoning behind Pryor's actions? Ironically, and with apologies to Jim Tressel, it seems to be an act of "resignation." Pryor knows, when all is said, done, and penalized, his college career will likely be over. That doesn't appear to bother him greatly. Pryor can call it a career and begin preparation for the NFL, while leaving a crumbling OSU athletic program in his wake. It seems he's already begun his professional career, because he's getting "paid" to play.
Pryor's exit will equal in shame what his entrance was in grandeur. That probably doesn't bother him. But it should. If Pryor has any sense of respect for himself and Ohio State, he will admit his mistakes, freely and truthfully, and submit to any questioning OSU and the NCAA so desire. And never put on a Buckeye uniform again.
In Pryor's case, it would behoove him to "walk" away as opposed to being "driven" off.
Jim Tressel, head coach of The Ohio State University football program, has resigned, the school said in a press release.
“After meeting with University officials, we agreed that it is in the best interest of Ohio State that I resign as head football coach," Tressel said in a statement.
Assistant coach Luke Fickell will serve as interim coach next season, the school said. The search for a new head coach won't begin until after the 2011-2012 season ends.
The school fined Tressel $250,000 in March and suspended him after learning he failed to acknowledge that some of his players may have violated NCAA rules.
SI.com: Tressel tries to take brunt of NCAA wrath with resignation
“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,” President E. Gordon Gee said in a statement. “The University’s enduring public purposes and its tradition of excellence continue to guide our actions.”
Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith said the school had been investigating Tressel since January.
"Obviously I'm disappointed that this happened at all," Tressel said in a press conference in March. "I take responsibility for what we do at Ohio State tremendously seriously ... and obviously I plan to grow from this. I'm sincerely saddened by the fact that I let some people down, and that I didn't do some things as well as I could possibly do."
Smith on Monday said he was looking forward to a new chapter in Buckeye history.
“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,” he 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.”
SI.com’s Stewart Mandel said after Tressel’s fine that it would be hard to imagine Ohio State firing a coach who boasts a national championship and seven Big Ten titles in 10 years.
But as is the case with most big-time college football coaches, Tressel's contract includes a clause stating he could be terminated for failing to speedily report NCAA violations.
Under Tressel’s leadership, Ohio State won a national championship in 2003 and played two other national title games.