How long is Urban Meyer willing to hold onto a grudge? Apparently, more than 14 years.
That’s how long it’s been since Sports Illustrated published its famous longform report on Jim Tressel, which came out just hours after he resigned from his position as Ohio State’s head coach on Memorial Day 2011. The story, authored by George Dohrmann with David Epstein, was accompanied by a dramatic cover featuring a close-up of Tressel, along with the headline “How Deep It Went,” and came amid the tattoos-for-memorabilia scandal that had engulfed the Buckeyes program since late 2010.
Unsurprisingly, SI‘s story didn’t sit well with Ohio State fans, who argued that the outlet’s findings were much ado about nothing. And that apparently included Urban Meyer, who would ultimately become the Buckeyes’ next full-time head coach after Luke Fickell served on an interim basis in 2011.
“To this day, I still hold a grudge about that whole thing,” Meyer said on a recent episode of his podcast, The Triple Option. “I know Jim Tressel. I followed him, so I know exactly what his program was all about. And that was wrong. I mean, that was a mistake on a lot of fronts. The support Tressel received in Columbus, I don’t think was fair, and certainly the national [media], it’s actually a joke, to be honest with you. And so remember now, competitive advantage [that Ohio State received from the scandal] negligible. None. There wasn’t.”
It’s also worth noting that the Tressel cover story seemingly started a trend of controversial Sports Illustrated investigations into college athletic programs, including Oklahoma State football and UCLA men’s basketball. As for Tressel, just about everything related to the “Tatgate” scandal that ended his coaching career in Columbus now seems relatively overdramatic, including the SI cover.
Ultimately, it’s hardly surprising that Meyer would side with Tressel here, considering their shared Ohio State connection (and that the penalties imposed on the Buckeyes bled into Meyer’s tenure). As for his grudge against SI, it’s hard to find any evidence of that playing out in a meaningful way, at least in the public eye.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.