Not ever having been a football coach, I can only answer from the perspective of business. Organizations need to have a learning orientation so that they can remain agile and adapt to changing environmental and competitive forces. This requires a management structure that encourages managers to take risks to try to perform better.
I like Jim Tressel very much but I am beginning to worry about the things that I have seen and heard this year. For whatever reason, Ohio State's offense is not getting the job done and Coach Tressel is the man who is going to have to look deep inside and judge whether he is best placed to fix the problems that exist. No manager can "do it alone" and it sounds like Coach Tressel may be starting to realize that he may need some help.
In my opinion, one cause of our low offensive production is our inability or unwillingness to recognize and adapt to increasing parity in tough defenses. A few years ago, we won because our defense was truly unique. It may still be one of the best in college football, but the gap between it and others has diminished. Texas and Penn State performed as well as we did defensively on the day, because they had to shut down a less potent offense than they put on the field.
When we put a weaker offense on the field than our competitors, there is only so much that the defense can do to win the game.
What Jim Tressel needs is offensive coaches who will say no. He needs to rip this offense apart. It may have to wait to the off-season but he needs to do it. He needs people to disagree with him and to challenge and be challenged by him. I don't think we need anyone else from the northeastern Ohio quadrant. We need fresh blood that is willing to stand and be counted.
I'm not sure that this young man has enough clout to stand up to Jim Tressel, so I don't think that he is a good person for the job.
