Terrelle Pryor Leaving Ohio State. Anybody Know What He Drove Off In?

Terrelle Pryor has released a statement through his attorney declaring that he will beleaving Ohio State University. It's not necessarily surprising given the recent events in Columbus. Jim Tressel spent an awful lot of time defending Terrelle Pryor recently, and there's been a palpable level of frustration among Buckeye fans with Pryor, both on field and off. There have also been rumblings that other members of the Buckeye football team and university community blame Pryor for Tressel's ouster. Add in the 5 game suspension to start the season which Pryor was already due to serve, and it's no surprise he's in no hurry to hang around Columbus any longer.

Some quarters of OSU fandom have reacted to this news with a bit of optimism vis a vis the impending NCAA investigation, under the theory that if Pryor is no longer on campus he's no longer obligated to talk to the NCAA, and the boys from Indianapolis may not be able to really get the dirt on the Tressel era without him. I would counter that this assumes the NCAA can't find enough to convince itself without Pryor's input, which is a long shot. Just ask USC and Reggie Bush. The NCAA doesn't need all the incriminating details, just enough of them.

Meanwhile the Chicago Tribune is reporting that former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel had far more frequent contact in recent months with Terrelle Pryor's hometown "mentor" than previously disclosed. Tressel called Ted Sarniak 77 times, and also sent 91 text messages to Pryor's high school coach. In isolation this information doesn't seem significant. If the coach had other potential college prospects on the team I'm sure Tressel was sending texts about them. But it's just one more oddity in a series of details about Pryor, Tressel and the Ohio State football program that just raise an eyebrow.