Jim Tressel

THE INDIANS called upon a proven recruiter to land free-agent outfielder Nick Swisher. Former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel was among a group who had lunch Tuesday at Progressive Field with Swisher, who is considering a multiyear contract offer from the Indians. Swisher would fill a hole in rightfield for Cleveland, which traded Shin-Soo Choo to Cincinnati last week and has been trying to improve a team that collapsed in August and finished 68-94. Swisher, 32, played his college ball at Ohio State.

If it weren't for his father, Jim Tressel could have been the next Joe Paterno. Fresh out of Baldwin-Wallace in Berea, Ohio, after four years under the quarterbacking tutelage of his father, Lee, Tressel mailed scores of letters to college football programs looking for a graduate assistant coaching position. He received two offers: Akron and Penn State. And so in 1974, Tressel and his stern, straight-laced father drove to meet with stern, straight-laced Joe Paterno, fresh off another successful fall and already the owner of three undefeated seasons.

The next step may be the most important one for former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor. Done with college football and through with talking to the NCAA, now he'll have to convince NFL teams he can fully realize the potential that he has shown since he was a high school quarterback in Pennsylvania. Pryor attorney Larry James said yesterday that the QB turned down a chance to play in the Canadian Football League and is now focusing his energies on being drafted by an NFL team.

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said it is doubtful that starting tailback Chris "Beanie" Wells would play tomorrow night against No. 1 Southern California. Tressel said there was lingering soreness for Wells in his right foot after he worked out on Wednesday night. Wells did not practice with the team yesterday morning just before it departed for Los Angeles. "We were hoping he'd wake up this morning and feel even better than yesterday," Tressel said shortly before boarding the team bus to the airport.

THREE MORE football players are in hot water at Ohio State. The school reported late yesterday afternoon that running back Jordan Hall, defensive back Corey Brown (Cardinal O'Hara) and defensive back Travis Howard each received impermissible benefits of $300 or less earlier this year - after several players were suspended for accepting cash and free tattoos from the subject of a federal drug-trafficking probe. Ohio State is awaiting final word on what sanctions it will receive from the NCAA for violations which occurred in 2010 that led to coach Jim Tressel's forced resignation in May.   Noteworthy *  Starting defensive end Ronnell Lewis, whose eligibility had been in question, has been cleared to play for top-ranked Oklahoma this season.

We don't want to say that former Michigan defensive end Brandon Graham, the Eagles' first-round pick in 2010, was gloating yesterday after the resignation of Ohio State coach Jim Tressel. But clearly the rivalry will change without "The Vest" walking the Buckeyes' sideline. Tressel was 9-1 against Michigan with the only loss coming in 2003, by 35-21 in Ann Arbor. That was the last year that Michigan won an outright Big Ten title. Graham grew up in Detroit and played for the Wolverines, so his Big Blue ties run deep.

Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg interviewed with the Raiders Friday for their head coach vacancy. Mornhinweg traveled to Oakland for the interview, but he left without being hired, according to various reports. That does not mean he isn't still in the running. The Raiders have interviewed several other candidates and are said to be interested in more. There had been speculation that Mornhinweg would be sought by the Colts to fill their head coach opening. But the Eagles had not received a request for permission to talk to the 49-year old as of Friday, according to the team.

Terrelle Pryor ended his silence yesterday - for exactly 97 seconds. Speaking out, albeit briefly, for the first time since his college career at Ohio State ended embroiled in scandal, Pryor appeared with agent Drew Rosenhaus and gave a brief statement. He apologized to the Buckeyes, to his former teammates and to now-departed coach Jim Tressel for his role in the mess that may take down one of America's proudest programs. "I say sorry to all the Buckeye nation and all the Buckeye fans across the country," Pryor said.

Former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor has hired Drew Rosenhaus as his agent and has taken steps toward making himself available for an NFL supplemental draft. Pryor's lawyer, Larry James, said yesterday that Pryor was in Miami and had signed an agreement with Rosenhaus, a high-powered agent who represents some of the biggest names in sports. "I am happy that he has reached this point and he's in secure hands," James said of Pryor. Pryor announced last week that he would not return to the team for his senior season.

The NCAA has told Ohio State that it won't slap the university with lack of institutional control charges over the memorabilia-for-cash and tattoos scandal that cost football coach Jim Tressel his job. NCAA investigators informed Ohio State in a letter the school released yesterday that they have not found any new violations, and they won't cite the school for failing to monitor its football program. The NCAA letter, first reported by the Columbus Dispatch , also said that Tressel was the only university official who knew about the violations involving his players; he didn't report them to anyone else at the school.

THE INDIANS called upon a proven recruiter to land free-agent outfielder Nick Swisher. Former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel was among a group who had lunch Tuesday at Progressive Field with Swisher, who is considering a multiyear contract offer from the Indians. Swisher would fill a hole in rightfield for Cleveland, which traded Shin-Soo Choo to Cincinnati last week and has been trying to improve a team that collapsed in August and finished 68-94. Swisher, 32, played his college ball at Ohio State.

Florida's Urban Meyer shook hands with Joe Paterno at the end of the 2011 Outback Bowl and left the field in Tampa for what was supposed to be his last game as a head football coach. Flash forward nearly 22 months to Saturday night, and Meyer will be greeting Paterno's successor, Bill O'Brien, before the kickoff of the game between his new team, Ohio State, and Penn State. The hiring of Meyer, winner of two national championships in his six seasons with the Gators, gave both the Buckeyes and the Big Ten Conference some star power to enhance their national profiles.

FOR THOSE WHO believe the NCAA's slap on the hand of Penn State has solved the college-football overreach problem, well, really, it is but a minuscule shaving of the glaze on the tip of the iceberg. Lamentations and rending of garments went up when the NCAA took away scholarships from the folks at Happy Valley. Wow, they are now down to 65 football scholarships — all worth as much as $42,000, which is out-of-state tuition, room and board. How many people play on a football team?

NICKLAS BENDTNER paid a heavy price for his underpants on Monday. The Denmark forward was banned for one 2014 World Cup qualifying match for revealing an unofficial sponsor's name on his underwear while celebrating a goal at the European Championship in Warsaw, Poland. UEFA said its disciplinary panel found Bendtner guilty of "improper conduct," and fined him $126,000. The punishment rules him out of the Danes' opening World Cup qualifier, at home to the Czech Republic on Sept.

Former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel has found another college job. The University of Akron announced Thursday that Tressel has been hired for the newly created position of vice president for strategic engagement. Tressel will earn a base salary of $200,000 per year and begin his new job on May 1. University officials say he will work with alumni, community organizations, and friends of the school to develop strategies and efforts to help students succeed. Tressel, 59, was forced to resign in May amid a scandal at Ohio State.

MOBILE, Ala. - The tattoos that cover DeVier Posey's arms tell a story, but Posey feels it isn't just the one about the entitled big-time college athlete who ended up in the middle of a huge scandal. Posey, a wide receiver from Ohio State, is at the Senior Bowl trying to give NFL scouts the look they didn't really get during the 2011 season, when he was suspended for the first 10 games of his senior year - five games for trading memorabilia for tattoos, the NCAA violations that took down Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel, and five games for accepting what the NCAA deemed excessive remuneration from a part-time job provided by a Cleveland-area booster.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - To look at won-lost records for head coaches who replaced the legends of college football on the sideline, you would think that Bill O'Brien's task of succeeding Joe Paterno as Penn State's coach might not be as intimidating as it appears. But examine the entire picture - the six-decade tenure, the high graduation rates of players, the incredible philanthropy toward the university, the ability to raise thousands of dollars from alumni by just walking into a room, and the appeal to have members of the community consider you a favorite uncle or grandfather - and you wonder why O'Brien would even agree to take the job. Quite simply, Paterno was the face of the university, not only running a successful football program in which he won a record 409 games, but also projecting a grandfatherly aura over a campus that has expanded exponentially in his 61 years in Happy Valley.

Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg interviewed with the Raiders Friday for their head coach vacancy. Mornhinweg traveled to Oakland for the interview, but he left without being hired, according to various reports. That does not mean he isn't still in the running. The Raiders have interviewed several other candidates and are said to be interested in more. There had been speculation that Mornhinweg would be sought by the Colts to fill their head coach opening. But the Eagles had not received a request for permission to talk to the 49-year old as of Friday, according to the team.

Ohio State players broke the rules and got to play in the Sugar Bowl anyway. Jim Tressel knew about infractions and let it all happen. Now the Buckeyes and new coach Urban Meyer will pay for it next season. The NCAA hit Ohio State with a one-year bowl ban and additional penalties Tuesday for violations that started with eight players taking a total of $14,000 in cash and tattoos in exchange for jerseys, rings, and other Buckeyes memorabilia. Tressel was tipped to the violations in April 2010 but didn't tell anyone - even after the athletes got caught last December but were allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl against Arkansas if they served suspensions to start the 2011 season.

URBAN MEYER'S first Ohio State team won't be bowl-bound. The NCAA hit Ohio State with a 1-year bowl ban and other penalties yesterday for a scandal that involved eight players taking a total of $14,000 in cash and tattoos in exchange for jerseys, rings and other Buckeyes memorabilia. Tipped to the violations, then-coach Jim Tressel failed to speak up. The university previously had offered to vacate the 2010 season, return bowl money, go on 2 years of NCAA probation and use five fewer football scholarships over the next 3 years.