“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
This is Jim Tressel’s darkest moment as Ohio State’s head football coach. Major NCAA violations have been committed, a two-game suspension has been levied and a fine of $250,000 must be paid.
The NCAA will conduct its investigation and could impose a stiffer penalty.
Before the story broke, Tressel was promoting his new book Life Promises for Success: Promises from God on Achieving Your Best—a book, according to Tim May of The Columbus Dispatch, that is a “collection of inspiring readings and Bible promises designed to encourage those seeking to succeed in every area of life.”
For Tyndale Publishers, the timing could not be worse, as the book signing tour just began. It will be hard to sell books on succeeding in life when the author is currently not succeeding.
Tressel has given his life to developing people’s character and had the desire to share his principles with the world. Now, his book will certainly flop. His first book, The Winners Manual, was a New York Times bestseller with over 150,000 copies in print, but after Tuesday, his new book will be lucky to sell 15 copies.
But there is another way to look at the story. Instead of a man who is a hypocritical cheat, maybe he is being used as part of a higher plan. Tressel is a deep man of faith and believes in a God who is in control. What if God wants Jim Tressel to live his faith instead of write about it? What if God’s plan is to use Tressel’s life instead of his words?
Tressel devotes one whole chapter in his first book The Winners Manual on handling adversity. The chapter begins, “I have learned more from losing than I’ve ever learned from winning.” (p. 151)
James Patrick Tressel has lost his biggest game, and the national media is vilifying him.
For example, Mark Schlabach of ESPN writes, “On Tuesday night, we learned Tressel isn’t any different from a lot of coaches in college football. He’s apparently more concerned about winning games and championships than following rules and doing things the right way. In fact, Tressel might be even worse than other coaches who are corrupting college athletics. He won’t admit he’s wrong even after he has been caught” (bold mine).
Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press writes, “The man’s a fraud. But as long as he keeps winning, nobody will care.”
These comments are consistent throughout the media. Some are calling for his firing, others are calling him a cheat and still others are labeling him a charlatan. Is Tressel as bad as the national media says he is? Or has the seriousness of the situation been overblown?
Gordon Gee said in a phone interview with New York Times reporter Pete Thamel that Tressel’s mistake “was a mistake of the heart, not a mistake of malfeasance.” Nonetheless, the mistake was a huge one.
It is clear that this is the biggest challenge Tressel has ever faced. Will his faith and the principles he espouses get him through?
Jim Tressel wrote in The Winners Manual that “adversity comes to us all—it’s only a matter of when. The real question is not whether we’ll face adversity but how we will respond to it when it comes.” (p. 153)
Tressel goes on to write, “If our attitude is one that embraces learning and growing, we’ll treat adversity as a stepping-stone to the success we desire, rather than see it as an insurmountable obstacle.” (p. 153)
A year or two from now, will Ohio State fans still be sour, or will today’s adversity produce tomorrow’s success? Will this obstacle for Ohio State football that seems insurmountable be conquered?
Adversity has come, and Tressel will get to show his players and the world a real-life example of how to walk through it. He has devoted his life to teaching life principles; now, the whole world will be watching to see if they are true.
On page 161 of The Winners Manual, Tressel quotes from the Roman statesman and philosopher Seneca: “It is a rough road that leads to heights of greatness.” A year or two from now, will this adversity be used as a steppingstone to greatness?
He has lost the chance to teach us through his book, but he has a second chance to teach us through his life. The world will be watching to see if the man we have known these past 10 years is indeed a fraud or if he truly is the man of character he has portrayed. Which Jim Tressel would you bet on?
Having followed Tressel for almost 11 years, he has demonstrated through and through that his faith is genuine, his character and integrity real. He has also shown that he is human and can make mistakes. We know he can win football games—now we will see if he can win at life. I am betting that he will.
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