Apparently, even Jim Tressel didn't think a two-game suspension was harsh enough for his program's NCAA rules violations.
↵Ohio State initially imposed the penalty (along with a $250,000 fine) for neglecting to notify the school that six of his players had committed NCAA violations in trading football memorabilia to a local tattoo parlor for cash and discounted services. The school reported the violations to the NCAA last December, but a Yahoo! Sports investigative report revealed that Tressel knew of the violations more than eight months earlier.
↵Soon after the suspension and fine were issued, Ohio State and Tressel were nationally criticized for the leniency of the punishment. Missing games against Akron and Toledo really didn't seem like much of a penalty for the football program, especially considering that Tressel withheld information (though claimed ignorance in doing so) and signed an NCAA disclosure form saying he was not aware of the violations.
↵In light of those protests, Tressel announced on Thursday that he would increase his suspension to five games. (His fine will not increase, however.) The decision coincides with the NCAA denying an appeal of the player suspensions. That will now keep Tressel off the sidelines for the Buckeyes' game at Miami (Fla.) and home contests versus Colorado and Michigan State.
↵(The six players committing the violations were suspended for five games each, and must repay the money received, but were allowed to play in January's Sugar Bowl.)
↵As the Columbus Dispatch notes in its story on the increased suspension, it's worth noting that the NCAA has penalized 26 schools for violating Bylaw 10.1 (banning "unethical conduct"). And of the 12 coaches involved in those violations, only one of them kept his job. The others were either fired or resigned from their posts. But were any of them as successful as Tressel has been at Ohio State?