ESPN College Football

As part of ESPN.com's Hate Week, we asked you on Tuesday to vote for the most hated coach of all time in the Big Ten.

Now to wrap up Hate Week -- and we promise it's only going to be love from now on in this space (ahem) -- here are some of your comments on that topic. Let's conclude the Haters' Ball with a bang.

Philip from Iowa writes: No question it's Jim Tressel. First, he wins a lot of Big Ten Championships so naturally everyone else hates him for that. Second, he lost twice in a row in the National Championship, embarrassing the conference on the national stage -- and it hasn't yet been rebuilt. To make matters worse, the 2 games were 1 where OSU was the overwhelming favorite (against FL) and the other was to a 2 loss team (LSU)! Finally, there is the Terrell Pryor saga that happens while Tressel puts out a book called "The Winners Manual for the Game of Life" There is no contest, every school in the Big Ten, including many OSU alums and fans, hate Jim Tressel. Not many coaches can manage that.

Bert from Portland, Ore., writes: Most hated Big Ten Coach.Bo Schembechler. I attended Northwestern during 1975-79 and the football program won five games during that time (with an infamous 0-0 tie agaisnt Illinois). Woody Hayes would bring his team to town and in the post-game conference at least say that Northwestern played hard. Schembechler would complain that Northwestern did not belong in the Big Ten and that Michigan did not make enough money when it played in Evanston. He was a jerk of the worst kind. I remember watching the Homecoming game in 1978 when, during a rout, Northwestern managed to score a touchdown on a trick play embodiment of a fake punt fairly late in the game. Schembechler started screaming at his players and looked like he was on the verge of having a heart attack. The Northwestern fans started chanting "Rose Bowl! Rose Bowl!" In fact, Schembechler was probably the only man in the world who could make me root for USC in the Rose Bowl (which beat Michigan that season). Woody could be gracious in victory and even humble in own way. Schembechler could accomplish neither.

Logan D. from Saginaw, Mich., writes: The most hated coach in the B1G, or who should be the most hated coach, is without a doubt Bret Bielema. The guy just radiates egotism. All you need to do is type his name into Google followed by "is" and you will know exactly what he's like from the suggested words. As a Michigan State fan, I'm not sure if I have ever been angrier with a coach than I was at the end of last year's Big Ten Championship game. After Wisconsin's punter made his Oscar-worthy dive to seal the game, I don't know if I've ever seen a coach as outwardly exuberant as Bret was in that moment. You would have thought his team just scored a touchdown on the most miraculous play in history. I don't know another coach that would be as excited over seeing a yellow flag in the backfield. Plus, not that the guy is in need of an ego-boost whatsoever, but what compels you to put up 70 on Austin Peay and 83 on Indiana? We get it. You can score a lot of points against bad teams.

Brad W. from Philadelphia writes: Most hated coach? Hayden Fry. Unsportsmanlike, completely ungracious, score-runner-upper, never giving the opposition any credit, moronic 3rd-grade stuff like the pink locker room ... just an unpleasant, vicious old man. Could never beat his butt often enough. Runners-up: Earle Bruce, Mike White.

Rich H. from Wayne, N.J., writes: Most hated coach ever? Woody Hayes without a doubt. Surly, unprofessional, a hick, temper tantrums and unpolished. Dial up an automatic loss in almost every bowl game he coached. Track record of more NFL busts than any program sans Nebraska. Unimaginative offense; never changed with the times either. Never scheduled a tough out of conference game regular season without a 2-1/3-1 deal. His famous bout with Ref Jerry Markbreit on the sideline circa 1971? Should have been fired right then and there. Of course 1978 vs Clemson and Mr. Baumann will live in infamy and is the most embarrassing complete breakdown of any major head-coach EVER and televised on national TV to boot. Good thing he wasn't around in today's day and age - that dooming episode would have gone virile in 20 seconds. Yet alums adore this basic jackwagon, go figure. Did I mention his graduation rate? Less than 70%. Should I continue? Nah, jury rests...

Paul from Johnstown, Pa., writes: Love the Hate! I nominate two coaches, one current and one former. First, Bret Bielema...a totally spineless, classless jerk. Runs up the score. Goes for 2 late in the 4th Qtr with games in hand. Whines, whines, whines, whines like a 5 year old. Loses to TCU with a completely loaded team. Makes tacky comments about how great it is to be a Badger fan when questioned about the situations at PSU, OSU and UM. Sprints across the field like a tool to shake hands quickly with opposing coach in total disprespectful fashion .Second, Bo Scumbechler ... yes, "Scumbechler." As a PSU fan, I have an obligation to hate this man for the lack of class he showed when PSU was brought into the B1G. His comments and efforts to exclude PSU and/or to make PSU's admission into the conference unwelcoming still boils my blood.

Danny from Davenport, Iowa, writes: Adam, as a Hawkeye fan it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep from hating Pat Fitzgerald. He may not be on the radar much outside of Iowa City and his body of work may leave some to question this hatred for PF. But, look at this from an Iowa fan standpoint. PF is a whiner and a coward. Take last year, for instance. PF hid behind one of his own players while that player took heat for admitting to the world that Pat Fitz hated Iowa with a passion. One cannot help but think that this is hostility boiling over from the injury incurred during a game when PF was still in pads. Grow up and get over it. Then, there was PFs whole twitter controversy, or should I say the "director of football operations" twitter controversy while he was "accidentally" logged into PFs account. SURE, man up.

Mark from Oklahoma City writes: John Cooper. I was born in Ohio in 1986. Growing up and watching the pain and anguish that John Cooper put on my father's face Saturday afternoons in late November during the 90s was enough to make me despise him. Interestingly, it's during the same period I grew to despise Lloyd Carr. I hated him more at one point until I went to Ohio State during the Jimmy T era which he spent a good amount of time of beating the same Lloyd Carr into "retirement" which cemented Cooper as my most hated coach. Go back to Arizona State, take Gene Smith with you. Give me a coach from Ohio.

Shawn from Minneapolis writes: You gotta admire talent, so I'm not picking on anyone who won, not even those [REDACTED] coaches from Michigan. Most hated B1G coach: Tim Brewster, with a pathetic record of (*googles* ... cripes it didn't feel like that many wins) 15-30 in FOUR LONG YEARS. Long live Coach Kill!

Zach from Lincoln, Neb., writes: In regards to your most hated coach ever...Can the worst coach not have ever coached in the B1G? I think universally, Bill Callahan (excuse my french) is the dirtiest word that can be spoken in 'sker country.

Joe P. from Chicago writes: My most hated Big Ten coach ever is John L. Smith. As a Spartan fan, it was bad enough getting regularly slaughtered by our rivals (and inferior programs like Indiana), but he made our program into a punchline. God Bless Dantonio.

Chris from Wisconsin writes: As soon as Urban Meyer entered the B1G he instantly became the most hated coach of all time. As a Badger fan, I didn't even really hate any coaches in the Big Ten over the years but wow do I hate Urban Meyer and I can't even figure out what it is. I can't stand the guy and he has yet to coach a game at OSU hoping Bielema runs up the score on him for many years to come "and for Urban many is about 3 which is how long I expect him to stay at OSU.

Robert V. from West Bloomfield, Meechigan, writes: Most Hated Big Ten Coach:Wayne Woodrow Hayes.

Travis form Midland, Mich., writes: As a Michigan fan, I would have to say I hate Jim Tressel the most. I was not alive during the 10-year war between Woody and Bo, so I don't hate Woody as much as some other Michigan fans. The biggest reason I hate Tressel the most would be the violations. Before "tattoogate" broke, I hated him, but I respected him for running an honest program. After the NCAA violations, I hated him and I lost most of my respect for him. Personally (and this might be my Michigan fan bias), I believe Ohio State went beyond just the tattoos. I believe that there were rule infractions as early as Maurice Clarett. To sum it up, I hate Jim Tressel because, 1. He coached at Ohio State, 2. He was extremely successful against Michigan, 3. He turned his back to NCAA violations and is labeled a cheater in my mind because of this. My second least favorite coach might just be Jerry Sandusky, for obvious reasons.

John from New Hampshire writes: Easy question: Lloyd Carr hands down without a doubt. His sideline ranting made it even easier to just despise Meeechigan. His BS screaming for more time on the clock won him a miracle game about five years ago when Penn State was in the Big House and winning till Lloyd's crying got the refs to make a historically insipient call, giving undue time on the clock and giving those hideously clad (...that bright yellow....) chumps the game - and costing my beloved Nittany Lions perhaps a perfect season.

College football’s most hated coaches were despised for winning, breaking the rules and running up the score.

Ranking the most hated college football coaches of all-time:

1. Steve Spurrier: Rival fans hated Spurrier not only because he beat them so often while coaching at Florida, but more so because he loved to tell them about it afterward. From Spurrier’s famous jabs like “Free Shoes U.” and “Can’t Spell Citrus Without UT,” the Old Ball Coach gave rival fans myriad reasons to dislike him.

2. Woody Hayes: One of the most successful coaches in history, Hayes guided Ohio State to 13 Big Ten titles and three consensus national championships. But he is perhaps best remembered for his chronically boorish behavior, which included physical confrontations with sportswriters, photographers, opposing coaches and athletics directors, referees and even opposing players.

3. Barry Switzer: A bootlegger’s son from Arkansas, Switzer wasn’t afraid to rub opposing coaches and fans the wrong way while dominating the Big 8 during his ultra-successful career at Oklahoma from 1973 to 1988. Switzer always wanted to hang “half a hundred” on opponents and wasn’t afraid to run up the score with his wishbone offense. Opposing fans’ beliefs that Switzer often cut corners when it came to NCAA rules were confirmed when his program crumbled under a plethora of scandals in 1989.

4. Jimmy Johnson: Johnson coached Miami for five seasons during its “Decade of Dominance,” and he’s remembered for fostering the Hurricanes’ infamous bad-boy culture. Many of Johnson’s players were showboats on and off the field, and he wasn’t afraid to run up the score on lesser opponents, either. His team infamously wore combat fatigues to a pregame event before playing Penn State in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl.

5. Lane Kiffin: Perhaps no coach in SEC history ticked off more people in less time than Kiffin, who spent the 2009 season at Tennessee before bolting for Southern California. During his one-year tenure with the Volunteers, Kiffin criticized nearly everyone, including then-Florida coach Urban Meyer and Georgia coach Mark Richt. Kiffin even went as far as saying if a player signed with South Carolina, he ended up pumping gas for a living.

6. Bobby Petrino: Auburn fans hate Petrino because he interviewed for former Tigers coach Tommy Tuberville’s job during a clandestine interview at an Indiana airport -- when Tuberville was still employed. Louisville fans despised Petrino because he seemingly was always trying to leave and finally did, leaving the Cardinals program in pretty bad shape. Now Arkansas fans dislike him for letting his personal life derail what was becoming a very good program.

7. Urban Meyer: Meyer seemed like an outsider when he was hired as Florida’s coach in 2005 and it didn’t take him long to become hated by rival schools. Meyer tried to revolutionize the way the SEC played football with his spread offense, winning BCS national championships in 2006 and 2008. But then Meyer upset Florida fans when he retired twice in two years -- before waiting a year to become Ohio State’s new coach.

8. Jackie Sherrill: Few coaches were more despised by their teams’ chief rivals. While Sherrill was coaching at Pittsburgh, legendary Penn State coach Joe Paterno said he wouldn’t retire because he didn’t want to leave college football “to the Jackie Sherrills and Barry Switzers of the world” (Paterno later apologized and became Sherrill’s friend). Texas fans hated Sherrill because he had a 7-3 record against the Longhorns.

9. Jim Tressel: Michigan fans hated Tressel for beating the Wolverines so much -- he went 8-1 against OSU’s chief rival during his tenure. Opposing fans hated Tressel’s squeaky-clean image of a sweater vest and bifocals. They celebrated when Tressel resigned in 2011 after admitting he withheld information about NCAA rules violations from OSU officials and NCAA investigators.

10. Rich Rodriguez: West Virginia fans absolutely loved Rodriguez, a former WVU defensive back, when he guided the Mountaineers to 60 victories and two BCS bowl games from 2001 to 2007. But WVU fans literally drove Rodriguez and his family from his native state after he abruptly left the school to become Michigan’s coach in 2008. Wolverines fans don’t like him too much, either, after Rodriguez went 15-22 in three seasons.

Leaving one's job can be pretty awkward. For college football coaches, it usually is. Rarely do we see an amiable mutual parting in these situations.

As we continue to take a look at the coaches we love to hate this week, we're looking at SEC coaches who have left their respective schools in a lurch.

We already discussed Bobby Petrino's more than awkward departure at Arkansas, so we're going with three other recent departures that happened unexpectedly.

Let the bad memories return:

Lane Kiffin, Tennessee: He left for USC in 2010 after one season at Tennessee. Kiffin replaced longtime Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer in 2009 and was immediately confrontational with other SEC coaches, and that sort of arrogance was something that had to be a little attractive to Tennessee's fan base. However, his lack of production on the field made his pompous attitude laughable. Through all the chirping, he delivered a 7-6 season, which might go down as the most celebrated 7-6 season in SEC history. He talked so much about all the good things he'd do at Tennessee, but whined about not having enough talent. Then he built up his first signing class, but it eventually turned into nothing more than a paper tiger. Kiffin suddenly left Tennessee for USC just three weeks before national signing day in 2010. During his uncomfortable news conference, in which he announced his departure, Tennessee fans showed up in droves to wish him a not-so-safe trip to Cali. Kiffin left under the protection of police and left Tennessee with an NCAA cloud hanging over its head, which got the school a visit from the NCAA infractions committee. Kiffin and his staff's recruiting practices prompted an investigation that resulted in two years of probation for Tennessee. The NCAA found that Kiffin and his staff had committed 12 secondary violations, but Kiffin wasn't penalized. Derek Dooley took over for Kiffin in 2010 and has dealt with a laundry list of player and attrition issues. He has gone 11-14 in his two years.

Urban Meyer, Florida: He announced that he'd be stepping away from coaching in 2010, but is now coaching at Ohio State. There was no question that Meyer was one of the best coaches to swing through Gainesville. During his six-year tenure, he won two national championships and took the Gators to three SEC championship games. But it was the way he left that sent Gator Nation into a frenzy. First, he announced his retirement for health reasons a couple of weeks after the loss to Alabama in the 2009 SEC championship game. His retirement barely lasted 24 hours, but Meyer and Florida were never the same. The 2010 season was a major step back, as Florida went 8-5, and Meyer stepped away again after the regular season concluded. Meyer said he was taking time off because of his health and his desire to spend more time with his family. Then, he took over at Ohio State (one of his dream jobs) for the fired Jim Tressel. But it wasn't just leaving Florida for a Big Ten school barely a year later that upset Florida fans. It was the fact that he left new coach Will Muschamp with what Meyer himself deemed a broken program. Muschamp dealt with discipline and attrition issues during his first season, in which he went 7-6. While Meyer was the king of winning the recruiting ranking game, he too often missed on character.

Tommy Tuberville, Ole Miss: He left Ole Miss after the 1998 season for Auburn. Tuberville took over a struggling Ole Miss program in 1995 and helped the Rebels to three winning seasons in four years. But four years wasn't what the Ole Miss faithful expected to get from Tuberville; he made it seem that he would be there for much longer when he uttered those now-infamous words: "They’ll have to carry me out of here in a pine box." That pine box apparently had to be filled with money, as just a couple days after he emphatically stated that he wanted to stay in Oxford and be the Rebels' coach, he took a pay raise that doubled his salary and headed off to Auburn. Soon after Tuberville left without so much as telling his players, Ole Miss fans donned T-shirts inspired by the movie "Liar, Liar" with Tuberville's face on them instead of Jim Carrey's. Tuberville went 7-3 against his old team during his time at Auburn. David Cutcliffe, Tuberville's replacement, guided Ole Miss to five winning seasons in his six years, including a 10-win season that ended with a Cotton Bowl victory.

Most Big Ten coaches label their jobs with a capital D for destination. When a head coach arrives on a Big Ten campus, he usually isn't looking for his next stop. Big Ten fans take pride in this.

The league has been largely immune from the wandering-eye coaches who leave programs at inopportune times for the next big thing. Even the Big Ten programs that could be classified as stepping stones haven't been left in the lurch very often in recent years. While it's not shocking that a Big Ten coach hasn't jumped to a different college job, it's a bit of a surprise that the NFL hasn't plucked one away.

The last Big Ten coach to voluntarily leave his team at a less-than ideal time was Nick Saban, who ditched Michigan State for LSU on Nov. 30, 1999. Saban had led the Spartans to a 9-2 record, a No. 10 national ranking and berth in the Florida Citrus Bowl. Although then-Michigan State athletic director Clarence Underwood praised Saban for putting the program "back on solid ground," Saban's departure put the school in a tough situation. Less than a week after Saban's departure, Michigan State promoted longtime assistant Bobby Williams to head coach, a decision that didn't turn out well.

After flirting with several bigger-name programs during his time at Northwestern, Gary Barnett finally left to take the Colorado job on Jan. 20, 1999, just weeks before national signing day. Although Northwestern immediately named Barnett's replacement, Randy Walker, the drawn-out saga wasn't much fun, given what Barnett had meant to the school.

But since Saban and Barnett, the Big Ten hasn't had any coaches voluntarily leave at bad times. There have been some midseason firings (Tim Brewster at Minnesota, Williams at Michigan State) and some late firings (Rich Rodriguez at Michigan, Glen Mason at Minnesota), but in those cases the schools, not the coaches, made decisions that put themselves in tough situations.

The most recent instances of coaches leaving Big Ten programs in tough spots involved two men who certainly didn't walk away on their own terms.

After months of scrutiny stemming from the tattoo/memorabilia scandal and his attempted cover-up, Jim Tressel resigned his post as Ohio State's coach on Memorial Day of 2011. Tressel stepped down just three months before the season and with spring practice all wrapped up. Ohio State knew it would be without Tressel for the first five games of the 2011 season, but his resignation under pressure left the program scrambling.

The school named 37-year-old assistant Luke Fickell, who had never been a head coach before, to the top job. After six consecutive seasons of Big Ten titles (won or shared), Ohio State went 6-7 under Fickell last fall, its first losing season since 1988 and its first seven-loss season since 1897. Ouch.

But the ugliest and most untimely departure was yet to come. Five days after former Penn State assistant Jerry Sandusky was arrested on child sex abuse charges, Penn State's board of trustees voted to fire longtime coach Joe Paterno. The date: Nov. 9. Penn State was 8-1 at the time, and 11 days earlier Paterno had recorded his 409th coaching victory, moving him past Eddie Robinson for the most wins in college football history. Hours before the board's decision, Paterno had announced he would retire following the season, his 46th as head coach. Instead, he was informed via telephone that his tenure was over, which triggered a backlash from Penn State students and fans.

The school promoted longtime assistant Tom Bradley to interim head coach. Bradley led the team during a hellish eight weeks that featured, among other things: a 1-3 record that knocked Penn State out of the Big Ten race; snubs by several bowl games who didn't want to deal with a p.r. nightmare; the announcement that Paterno had been diagnosed with lung cancer; a locker-room fight that left starting quarterback Matthew McGloin concussed and unable to play in the bowl; and a seemingly rudderless coaching search that took too long and put Bradley in an awkward situation.

In six months, two iconic Big Ten programs lost incredibly successful coaches under extremely messy circumstances.

A Big Ten coach bolting for an NFL job suddenly doesn't sound so bad.

Secondary NCAA violations happen with every FBS program on a semi-regular basis, but at Ohio State, after the past year, every error is magnified.

The [Cleveland] Plain Dealer recently obtained a list of all Ohio State's NCAA violations since May 30, 2011, the day Jim Tressel resigned as football coach in the wake of the tattoo/memorabilia scandal. According to the Plain Dealer, Ohio State reported 46 violations in 21 sports during the span, including secondary NCAA violations committed by new football coach Urban Meyer and athletic director Gene Smith.

Meyer admits to saying "good luck" to defensive line recruit Noah Spence during a Dec. 16 game, which violates NCAA rules prohibiting direct contact with a prospect during a competition. Spence, who originally was leaning toward Penn State before the child sex abuse scandal broke, ended up committing to Ohio State days after the game while on an official visit, and he signed with the Buckeyes in February. He's the nation's No. 4 recruit according to ESPN Recruiting and the highest-rated recruit in the Big Ten this year.

From the Plain Dealer:

Ohio State learned of the matter after seeing a newspaper photo that appeared to show Meyer saying something to Spence. Meyer also told Ohio State about the incident two days after the game.

"I went to say hello and good luck to his coach and as I was walking off the field Noah said, 'Hello,' and I said 'Good luck,' before the game," Meyer wrote in a text message to The Plain Dealer on Thursday. "Nothing more. Nothing to hide. All good."

The violations included nothing about Meyer and recruit Kyle Dodson, who signed with Ohio State in February. The Sporting News reported that Wisconsin had accused Meyer of impermissible contact with Dodson, who originally committed to Wisconsin before switching.

Smith and Archie Griffin, the former Ohio State star running back and current CEO of the school's alumni association, admitted to recording a personalized video for recruit Ezekiel Elliott before his official visit to campus March 31. Such videos are prohibited. Elliott committed to Ohio State during his visit.

Other football secondary violations range from the truly ridiculous -- assistant coach Mike Vrabel used smokeless tobacco on the sidelines during games, which violates NCAA rules prohibiting tobacco use during games or practices -- to the extremely common (assistant Stan Drayton accidentally sending a recruit a text message rather than an email last summer).

The only major violations included are the ones involving players being overpaid for work by former booster Bobby DiGeronimo. Those violations, combined with the violations from the tattoo/merchandise scandal, resulted in Ohio State losing scholarships and receiving a one-year postseason ban from the NCAA for the 2012 season.

There are a few ways to view the report, none of which are off base.

• The NCAA rulebook is pretty silly.
• Meyer and Smith have to be more careful, especially after what happened. Smith's violation is a bit puzzling. You would think he would have some hesitation about recording a personalized video for a recruit.
• Ohio State's compliance department, panned during the tattoo/merchandise scandal, is improving in monitoring and reporting issues.

"So many lessons learned throughout that entire challenge," Smith told ESPN.com last month. "You have to constantly look at, 'OK, what could we have done better?' What procedures do we put in place as we move forward? Be as transparent as we can. The biggest thing for us is identify, report and move on. That's what we’ve always done. There's some things we changed to make sure we don’t end up in that situation again."

Terrelle Pryor is trying to put his past behind him and become a successful NFL quarterback. But he's not finished talking about what happened at Ohio State.

In an interview with SI.com's Jim Trotter, the disgraced former Buckeyes star and current Oakland Raider offered a new perspective on why he sold his memorabilia for cash and favors, which eventually helped lead to the downfall of coach Jim Tressel and NCAA problems for the program.

Pryor was suspended for the first five games of last season and then decided to enter the supplemental NFL draft. He was later banned from associating with the school for five years.

"The reason why I did it was to pay my mother's gas bill and some of her rent," Pryor told Trotter. "She was four months behind in rent, and the (landlord) was so nice because he was an Ohio State fan. He gave her the benefit of the doubt and she said, 'My son will pay you back sometime if you just let me pay you back during my work sessions.'

"She ended up losing her job, and she and my sister lived there. Let me remind you it was freezing cold in November, December, and she's using the oven as heat. That's what I did as a kid. I was telling the NCAA, 'Please, anything that you can do. I gave my mother this so my sister wouldn't be cold, so my mother wouldn't be cold.' They didn't have any sympathy for me.

"It's not like I went there and bought new Jordans. It's documented. Whenever I write my book the proof will be in there, the receipt that the money I gave my mother was to pay the electric and heat bill. The truth is going to come out one day when the time is right. I don't think I deserved (being punished) in that way, because of the reason I was doing it. I felt like I was doing God's work in a way, and I was getting driven into the ground."

Your heart would have to be constructed of stone not to feel some sympathy for a kid trying to pay the rent and heating bill for his mother and sister. And we all know that the system is stacked against college athletes, who make millions for their schools and see little besides tuition in return.

But is Pryor really credible? One of the key parts of the Ohio State scandal involved Pryor and other players receiving tattoos in exchange for memorabilia. Unless body ink contains some heating ability I'm not aware of, it's hard to see how that helped his family. (Or, just possibly, Pryor has found the solution to our energy crisis: tattoo power!)

And remember this ESPN story that alleged Pryor made as much as $40,000 signing autographs from 2009-10? Was that "God's work?" Just how much was that rent and heating bill, anyway?

There's more from Pryor in the interview.

"It was humbling," he said. "A mistake I made when I was a freshman by selling my pants for $3,000 just took away everything from me. I was just driven into the ground. I was the worst person in the world. My face popped up on the screen, and it seemed like I was the only one who did anything. I was the only one who was getting attacked.

"At that point last year, I'm 21 and it just felt like everything was against me, like I can't do anything right. I did something to help somebody else out, and I end up getting into trouble. I understand. I shouldn't have sold the stuff and taken $3,000. But I was kind of in a place where I didn't understand why this is happening to me -- especially for the reason that I did it."

Again, there's at least a glimmer of something here with which we can emphasize. What Pryor and others did, selling their Ohio State rings, jerseys and other memorabilia -- things they earned, by the way, and which the school is more than happy to handsomely profit from -- is not the worst crime in the world, especially compared to some of the other scandals we've seen in college football in the past year alone.

Yet Pryor knew what he was doing was wrong and that it would hurt Ohio State. He often seemed like he felt bigger than the program. He admitted in the SI.com interview that "I had some type of ego with me" during his college days.

Pryor is not a super villain. He may have had some legitimate and understandable reasons for some of the rules he broke at Ohio State. Hopefully, he learned some important lessons.

But Buckeyes fans would like him to just go away. And the prospect of him writing a book, which he mentioned in the interview, has got to be highly unsettling for Ohio State supporters.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Like most coaches, Ohio State's Luke Fickell has neither the time nor the desire to look backward.

Fickell isn't going to publish his memoirs about his 182-day term as Ohio State's head coach last year, when he guided his alma mater through an adversity-filled season that produced subpar results on the field. After Ohio State named Urban Meyer as its head coach on Nov. 28, Fickell's life didn't exactly slow down. He coached the Buckeyes through their bowl game, interviewing for Pitt's head-coaching vacancy during the span, before opting to remain with Ohio State as defensive coordinator. When Meyer introduced his staff at a Jan. 15 Ohio State men's basketball game, Fickell received the loudest ovation.

Since then, Fickell has spent most of his time recruiting, with some coaching sprinkled in this spring.

"From the day after the [bowl] game, I pretty much started moving on into the next page," Fickell told ESPN.com. "Since then, we've had spring break off, so that was probably about the only time you may have had to reflect, but you were so far into everything else. ... Then again, I'm not a person that is going to dwell upon the past."

He might not dwell on what happened, but he hasn't forgotten, either. The unique situation provided lessons for a young coach.

"There's things you take from every experience, but especially that one," Fickell said. "Not just about being a head coach, but being in the midst of adversity. It's everything from how you react and respond to how others around you react and respond to how an 18-year-old reacts and responds, to a 22-year-old. There was an incredible amount of things learned, not just about what things would I do different, but more emotionally."

Fickell is back in the familiar role of assistant coach, a position he held at Ohio State from 2002 until Jim Tressel's resignation on Memorial Day of 2011. The 38-year-old shares coordinator duties with coaching veteran Everett Withers, and he'll also coach the linebackers, as he did from 2005-2010.

Fickell shared defensive coordinator duties with Jim Heacock before taking over the head-coaching duties, but Heacock was regarded as the unit's leader. The 2012 season marks the first where Fickell moves into the primary play-calling role, although he downplays the idea that he'll have more ownership with the defense.

"In 2002, it wasn't Mark Dantonio's defense," Fickell said. "It was Ohio State's silver bullet defense. In '05, when Jim Heacock and myself were doing our thing, it wasn't our defense. It was every bit [former assistant] Paul Haynes' defense and [former assistant] Tim Beckman's defense."

Withers has been a defensive coordinator at three FBS programs (North Carolina, Minnesota and Louisville) and boasts NFL experience with the Tennessee Titans and New Orleans Saints. He also shares a kinship with Fickell after serving as North Carolina's interim head coach last season.

While Fickell stepped into a tough situation on Memorial Day, Withers' promotion came even later, as he took over July 28 for the fired Butch Davis. Although they occasionally joke around about their experiences, Withers, like Fickell, hasn't had much time to look back.

"When Coach Withers and I had some opportunities to sit down and spend some time together, there were no egos involved," Fickell said. "That's Coach Meyer's biggest thing. He said, 'The most important thing is I want an alignment with the staff.' ... That's why we've been successful here and been good, not just at Ohio State but on defense as well."

Fickell inherits a defense that returns nine starters, including All-America defensive end John Simon, but backslid at times last season. Although Fickell spent most of his time with the defense last fall, he's no longer burdened by head-coaching duties.

"He's awesome," Simon said. "With the passion and fire he brings every day, especially with his knowledge of defense, it's great to have him back."

The scheme will remain more or less the same -- "Nothing that anybody would notice unless you were really studying us," linebacker Etienne Sabino said -- and so are the demands.

"We always talk about, 'Be on the same page,'" Sabino said. "We can both look at a play and he'll ask me, 'Is that good or not?' And if I say no, he's probably thinking the same thing. We're on the same page. He would never let you get complacent.

"He's still pushing me just as hard as when I first walked in here. That's great."

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- From his 10th floor office across the street, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith has an excellent view of the football practice fields next to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

Smith only attended three practices this spring -- a busier-than-normal schedule, highlighted by the men's basketball team's run to the Final Four, kept him occupied -- but he occasionally used his binoculars to check in on the team. When the Buckeyes resume workouts in August, he'll be a regular fixture on the sideline.

"I see things," Smith told ESPN.com. "And the players talk to me. Because of my background [Smith played defensive end at Notre Dame], they come and talk to me. I know when something's out of whack in that regard."

But Smith doesn't expect any issues to surface. He has full confidence in the way new head coach Urban Meyer manages his players.

Smith took notice of the recent Sporting News investigation alleging, among other things, that Meyer coddled star players, oversaw a program filled with drug use among players and let character issues get out of control during his time as Florida's coach. Smith encouraged Meyer to respond to the reporter, Matt Hayes, which Meyer did.

The report "disturbed" Smith because of its timing, not its content.

"It bothers me that there's a continued attack on him about something that happened supposedly two, three years ago," Smith said. "Where are we? I just don't get that. Those are things Urban and I talked about in the hiring process."

Smith addressed the number of Florida players arrested during Meyer's six-year tenure, which varied in media reports.

"There were reports of everywhere from 41 to 26 arrests," Smith said. "I never could figure it out, so I said, 'Urban, where are we at? What's the number?' We actually talked about the issues he had at Florida, talked about the behavioral issues he had at Florida.

"But he talked about his system. He has a system like you and I deal with. As an employee, we get rewarded when we do well. We get bad reviews when we do poorly."

Meyer acknowledges he gives preferential treatment to players who earn it through their commitment to the program both on and off the field. He plans to operate the same way at Ohio State.

"It reminds me of Ara Parseghian a little bit," said Smith, who played for Parseghian at Notre Dame, "in that he's rewarding the guys that ultimately commit themselves. Whether you're a 4.0 student or a 2.2 student, it doesn't matter. If 2.2 is your capacity, that's you, you still get rewarded. We had a long conversation about it, and I like it."

Most Ohio State fans could not care less about the allegations during Meyer's time at Florida, and there haven't been any major player-management incidents during his time with the Buckeyes. Yet the lone connection between the allegations and Ohio State is an important one. Many say Ohio State's recent NCAA maelstrom stemmed from the head coach (Jim Tressel) failing to rein in a key player (Terrelle Pryor).

While Ohio State has put measures in place to prevent problems, Smith reiterates he has full faith in Meyer and his staff.

"We have a compliance officer in the [football complex] now," Smith said. "He's in the building, right next to Urban's office. So that changes things a little bit. We continually talk about how we treat kids, not just in football but all sports. So I don't feel the need to micromanage that.

"I really have a great deal of trust in what they're doing."

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Paul Haynes and Taver Johnson were among the coaches entrusted to guide Ohio State through a storm 2011.

The last thing the two men could have expected at their next coaching stop was another tempest. And, in many ways, a more damaging one.

Haynes and Johnson are part of an Arkansas staff left to pick up the pieces from the Bobby Petrino scandal. Johnson, the Razorbacks' assistant head coach/linebackers coach, is in charge until a head coach is named, while Haynes serves as the Hogs' defensive coordinator after leaving Ohio State in December. Johnson had a chance to remain with Ohio State but left to join Hayes in Fayetteville.

Ohio State defensive coordinator Luke Fickell, who served as the Buckeyes' head coach last season after Jim Tressel's departure, has been in touch with Haynes since the Petrino scandal broke.

"A very, very difficult situation," Fickell told ESPN.com on Thursday. "Different in a lot of ways, but similar in some ways, too. Everybody learned from last year, whether they were an administrator here, whether they were an intern, a defensive coordinator or a head coach, you learn a lot of different things, and it's going to help them in the long run."

Fickell and Haynes are close friends and remain in regular contact, as do their wives. Fickell hasn't spoken as often with Johnson, but he's confident the two men don't need his advice despite another difficult situation.

"Hell, they were here, they know what happened," Fickell said. "Now if the situation [at Arkansas] stays the way it is, before they start a season, I'm sure just like I had, they'll have an opportunity to communicate with some different people and pick some brains. Right now, they're probably just trying to keep the whole ship afloat."

Through some very choppy waters.

1. The NCAA slapped a five-year penalty on former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel last year, and as of Tuesday night, the question arose of who will return to run a team faster -- Tressel or deposed Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino? Tressel at least has nothing preventing an NFL team from returning him to the sideline. Petrino is persona non grata in the BCS and, because of his callous treatment of Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank and general manager Rich McKay, it’s a good bet that no NFL team will rush to hire him, either.

2. Integrity returns? Maybe winning is neither everything nor the only thing. First, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell crushes the New Orleans Saints for their bounty program, and now Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long resists the urge to keep the lying, misleading coach who took the Hogs to a 21-5 record over the past two seasons. The great Bobby Jones assessed himself a one-shot penalty in the 1925 U.S. Open, which he then lost in a playoff. Complimented for his self-assessed penalty, Jones replied, “You may as well congratulate me for not robbing a bank.”

3. The changes at Penn State will unveil themselves in many ways over the months to come. The athletic department announced Wednesday that new coach Bill O’Brien, with other Nittany Lion head coaches, will do 18 alumni meet-and-greets on nine days from Apr. 30 to May 16. Joe Paterno last did this sort of thing in the spring in 2009, when he went to three dinners. Paterno didn’t need to do them. O’Brien does. The alumni want to like him. But they have to meet him first.

The overriding feeling in the Ozarks was that this would be Bobby Petrino’s best football team at Arkansas.

But now that he’s not going to be around to coach that team, where do the Hogs go from here?

As we saw with both North Carolina and Ohio State a year ago, it’s never easy to navigate a season when your coach has been sent packing in the months leading up to that season.

Granted, Butch Davis was fired at North Carolina about a month before the 2011 season began, and Jim Tressel was forced out heading into June.

So Arkansas’ coaches and players at least have a little more time to process the situation, but this is the kind of thing that can fester for even the most resilient of football teams.

One day, Petrino is there, firmly in control and feverishly building on last season’s No. 5 finish in the polls.

And then one ill-fated motorcycle ride later, he’s gone.

There’s no way to prepare for such a sudden transition, no textbook, no therapist who can all of a sudden make everything right again.

Put yourself in the place of the Arkansas players.

Petrino had guided them to this position, and together, they engineered the kind of success the Hogs haven’t had for 30 years. He talks about doing things the right way, being accountable to your teammates and never losing sight of the fact that you’re representing an entire university and an entire state when you put on that Arkansas uniform.

Those words ring hollow now, and the only thing more hollow is the feeling that everybody associated with the football program must be experiencing.

There are so many unanswered questions going forward.

Petrino had obviously done a masterful job in making the Hogs relevant again nationally, so losing his leadership is one thing.

But what about his offensive genius?

Few coaches in football have a better feel for the game when it comes to breaking down defenses and calling plays.

Petrino called all of the Hogs’ plays on offense, so losing that dynamic is a huge blow.

What this team has going for it is talent, not to mention experience in key spots.

Talent has a way of covering up even the nastiest of wounds.

Having one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC helps, too, and Tyler Wilson now has a full season as a starter under his belt.

Wilson’s leadership in 2012 will be crucial. The same goes for running back Knile Davis, who knows a little something about dealing with hardship.

Davis, who missed all of last season after injuring his ankle, was already an inspiration to his teammates with the way he has continued to fight back from injuries.

The Hogs are going to need him more than ever, both on and off the field, in 2012.

Petrino had overhauled his defensive staff in the offseason, and it just so happens that two of the guys he brought in -- defensive coordinator Paul Haynes and linebackers/interim head coach Taver Johnson -- were at Ohio State last season.

If anybody has a clue what Arkansas is about to face, it’s Haynes and Johnson. They lived it last season with the Buckeyes following Tressel’s ouster.

Ultimately, the coaches will only be able to do so much.

If the Hogs are going to keep 2012 from being a lost season and fulfill the promise everybody had for this team prior to Petrino’s dismissal, it’s going to be on the players.

They have the talent to weather the storm. We’ll find out in the fall if they have the fortitude.

Braxton Miller isn't taking a complete intro course this spring at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. But he's not merely taking a refresher, either.

Miller knows a thing or two about the spread offense Ohio State is installing under new coach Urban Meyer. He ran a similar system as a standout quarterback at Wayne High School in Huber Heights, Ohio. And even though he came to Ohio State to play in a different system under previous coach Jim Tressel, Miller has been billed by just about everyone as a perfect fit for the spread.

They might be right, but it still takes work and time to absorb the system and effectively run it at the college level.

"You've got to crawl before you walk," Miller told ESPN.com on Saturday.

Miller is still in the crawling phase as he goes through his first spring session with the new offense and the new coaching staff.

"Still got a long way to go," offensive coordinator Tom Herman told reporters after Saturday's workout. "He makes mistakes just like everybody else in a brand-new system."

Asked what stands out about Ohio State's new offense, Miller first talked about the pace. The days of 10-play, six-minute drives ending in field goals are likely over in Columbus.

The Buckeyes will go no-huddle and play at an accelerated tempo, using hand signals from the sideline to relay plays. Miller will have to check the backside defensive end on zone-read plays, shift protections and operate in a system based on pace and motion, similar to what he did in high school. But the terminology is different, and so are the demands from the coaches.

"It's much faster and more explosive," Miller said of the offense. "I love it, man. I love it."

Ohio State finished 107th nationally in total offense last season, and while its scoring numbers weren't quite as bad, only five teams averaged fewer passing yards than the Buckeyes, two of them service academies (Army and Navy). Miller earned Big Ten freshman of the year honors, started 10 games at quarterback and displayed dynamic running skills, but he only attempted 157 passes, the second-fewest among Big Ten starters.

Meyer's hiring galvanized Ohio State fans, but it's his offense that immediately caught Miller's attention.

"I was pretty familiar with the system he ran, so I was real excited about it," Miller said. "He's got a lot of knowledge. I’m learning from him every day."

Developing Miller as a passer is a chief priority for both Meyer and Herman this spring. Miller finished his freshman season on a good note, recording 32 of 48 passes for 397 yards with four touchdowns and an interception in his final two games.

But passing opportunities were scarce in Ohio State's ultra-conservative scheme, and like many athletic younger quarterbacks, Miller, who last fall led the team with 715 rush yards, relied on his running skills too much at times.

"I can’t get bundled up and so rattled up when somebody is rushing," he said. "I have to stand in the pocket and deliver the ball."

His challenge this spring is two-fold. He must learn the offense while better establishing himself as a leader on the field.

"It was a blessing," he said of playing so much in 2011. "The difference is playing with 22-, 23-year-old guys, and being a freshman. As the leader, they're looking at you. That’s what I’m working on going into this year. I feel more comfortable with what I'm doing right now. There isn’t that much pressure so far, so I’m going in every day, telling the guys, 'Let’s go. Let’s work hard today.'"

Jim Tressel's departure from Ohio State and the subsequent show-cause penalty he received from the NCAA made his next career move somewhat of a mystery.

He spent the past football season as a replay consultant for the Indianapolis Colts. He assisted Akron in its coaching search and was even mentioned as a potential candidate, despite the show-cause penalty. Tressel then interviewed for the Colts' head-coaching vacancy and was the runner-up to Chuck Pagano.

In the end, Tressel next move won't be in coaching. It won't even be in athletics.

The former Ohio State boss has accepted an administrative position outside of athletics at Akron. A university spokeswoman told the Associated Press that the school and Tressel have been discussing the job since December after he helped with the coaching search. Tressel reportedly will make about $200,000 at the school -- obviously a significant drop from his salary at Ohio State.

Tressel, who grew up in the Cleveland area, recently sold his home in suburban Columbus. He taught a class on coaching at Ohio State, and his most recent contract with Ohio State included an athletics administrative post upon his retirement from coaching, provided he stepped down on good terms. The athletics administration post would have paid Tressel $150,000 annually -- his previous Ohio State deal included a faculty position when he left coaching.

Tressel's move to administration isn't a huge surprise, but the move outside of athletics seems to be. It'll be interesting to see what he and Akron say about the move later today.

Urban Meyer has made his presence known on the recruiting trail since becoming Ohio State's coach Nov. 28, and much of his success has come at the expense of other Big Ten schools.

Ohio State flipped several recruits who had made commitments or were learning to programs elsewhere in the league. The Buckeyes undoubtedly benefited from the turmoil at Penn State, and also landed defensive lineman Se'Von Pittman, who had committed to Michigan State but jumped at the chance to play for the Scarlet and Gray.

The trend prompted some fans to ask whether Meyer was violating an unwritten rule among Big Ten coaches not to poach another team's recruits. The fact is Big Ten coaches at multiple schools have flipped recruits for years. The quantity and quality might not match what has happened with Meyer at Ohio State, but the tactic is hardly new to the league.

The "rule" doesn't exist ... or does it?

Michigan State defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi made some interesting remarks Monday at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Luncheon Club in Canton, Ohio. Narduzzi, never one to pull punches, addressed recruit flipping within the league and how things might be changing.

"[The agreement] has been between the coaches," Narduzzi said. "Jim Tressel and Mark Dantonio would never call or talk to each other’s commitments. People Coach Dantonio knows well don't come in and take players away. When you do, you lose friendships over that."

Narduzzi said he would not speak for Dantonio and declined to say if there were a friendly relationship between Meyer and Dantonio. However, he indicated, Michigan State’s coaching staff learned a lesson.

"It sets a tone and starts a recruiting rivalry," Narduzzi said. "I guess it's fair game. You don't want it to be that way, but that's how it is."

Tressel and Dantonio had a unique friendship that stretched back for years. Dantonio worked for Tressel at Ohio State and Youngstown State. Most Big Ten coaches aren't as close as they were.

But Narduzzi's comments make you think whether the policy was upheld more than it was broken. While there's enough evidence of recruit-flipping before Meyer's arrival, perhaps we'll see more in the coming years.

As Narduzzi said, that's how it is. The Ohio State-Michigan State recruiting battles should be interesting to watch.

Urban Meyer's old team beat his new team in the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl, as Florida used huge special-teams play, stout defense and just enough offense to beat Ohio State. The Gators end Will Muschamp's first season on a good note, while the Buckeyes can't wait to start the Meyer era.

How the game was won: For the second consecutive year, Florida used superior special teams and opportunistic play to beat a Big Ten opponent in a bowl. Two of the Gators' three touchdowns came in the kicking game, as Andre Debose had a 99-yard kickoff return and Graham Stewart scored following Chris Rainey's blocked punt. Neither offense was overly impressive, but the Gators limited Ohio State's rushing attack and forced a pair of turnovers, including a DeVier Posey fumble in Florida territory. The Gators responded to every Buckeyes surge and nearly kept Ohio State off of the scoreboard in the second half.

Player of the game: Florida running back Chris Rainey. He has made a habit out of blocking punts and got another one, smothering Ben Buchanan early in the third quarter. The Gators recovered and scored to extend their lead to 21-10. Rainey also had 71 rush yards, 31 receiving yards and 31 return yards in the game.

Stat of the game: The Gators came in ranked 112th nationally in third-down conversions at only 30.6 percent. But they converted 6 of 13 attempts against the Buckeyes to keep drives alive.

Record-setting: Ohio State finishes 6-7 to suffer its first seven-loss season since 1897, when it went 1-7-1. The Buckeyes had the longest stretch without a seven-loss season in the FBS by 78 years. The next-longest stretch had been Florida State (1975). Ohio State also has its first four-game losing streak since 1943.

What it means for Florida: The Gators ended a mediocre year on a positive note and claimed their fourth consecutive postseason victory and second straight against the Big Ten. Quarterback John Brantley made some mistakes but still completed 12 of 16 passes for 132 yards. The Gators are strong enough on defense and special teams to make noise in the SEC East next season, but the offense will be the top priority for Muschamp and his staff during the offseason.

What it means for Ohio State: The Buckeyes struggled in their final bowl appearance until the 2013 season, and some of the problems that surfaced all season showed up in the bowl. A mostly conservative offensive game plan produced only 17 points and 299 yards, although Ohio State held edges on Florida in both yards and first downs (20-14). Buckeyes fans won't be sorry to see offensive coordinator Jim Bollman go. Strong special teams had been a staple of the Jim Tressel era, and Ohio State had been better this year than it was in 2010 -- until the bowl breakdowns. It's all about Meyer now and moving things forward. Meyer inherits a mostly young and talented roster, but he and his staff have a lot to do in the offseason.