The Columbus Dispatch is reporting that Jim Tressel is resigning today as the head football coach at Ohio State University.
The news comes after an avalanche of allegations against Tressel, most of which he's publicly admitted, including charges that several high profile Buckeye players were exchanging autographs for tattoos with a local businessman who recently pled guilty to federal drug trafficking charges. Most damning for Tressel however was the revelation that he had been made aware of the relationship between the man and his players months before it became public yet denied knowledge of the events and even signed an NCAA compliance statement in the interim swearing that he was aware of no activity which would constitute a violation of NCAA rules. As former Oklahoma State receiver Dez Bryant will tell you, the NCAA doesn't like for you to break rules, be they big or small. But what will really get you in hot water is being untruthful about violations. And no matter how it's spun, Jim Tressel knew about potential rules violations at Ohio State, knew he had a duty to report them, yet refused to do so. Everything else in this story is just so much background noise.
One assumes the Memorial Day timing is likely not coincidental, and indicates either that the University was hoping to send the report through the news stream on a holiday weekend, or that the last few days have been used to haggle this thing out with no outside distractions, media or otherwise.
Don't forget to check out SB Nation's Along The Olentangy and Off Tackle Empire, both of which will likely be following developments on this breaking story.