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Jim Tressel's resignation at Ohio State and the difficulties in the Buckeye football program that led up to it are a warning to college coaches everywhere:

Allow multiple indiscretions on your watch, turn your head the other way while pleading ignorance, lie about what you know, and it won't matter how many scriptures you quote, how circumspect you act, how often you beat your rival, or even that you win a national championship. You run the risk of one day losing it all and maybe having a scarlet letter sewn into your sweater vest, to the extent where no major program will hire you again.

That's what Tressel faces now, after coaching at Ohio State for a decade, to mostly fabulous success on the field. He wrote in his resignation letter on Monday that God had a plan for him and that he would be fine.

You had to wonder if it was part of God's plan for Tressel to have been as clueless as he initially claimed to be, and then to bear false witness regarding his knowledge of players violating NCAA rules by trading autographed memorabilia for tattoos and cash.

An upcoming report in Sports Illustrated indicates that the rule breaking at Ohio State might have been more widespread than first thought. Tressel's resignation came after the publication contacted the university for comment about the allegations.

A couple of things worth noting here:

First, there is cheating and rule violating going on in many forms at many places in big-time college football. Many times it goes unnoticed and unpunished. Often, the head coach — a man who is usually meticulous about every detail in his view — is aware of what's happening, whether it has to do with recruiting or maintaining players already in the fold.

The question there is this: Is it worth it?

From a financial standpoint, it certainly can be.

Tressel was making between $3 million and $4 million a year. The reason he was making that much is because he was getting the players he needed to win better than 80 percent of his games and beat Michigan nine out of 10 times. As it took 10 years at the school for the indiscretions under his watch to be flushed out, Tressel's course, based on remuneration alone, paid off richly for him, even if he doesn't coach again.

So, if you're hired at a high-pressure school, and you know if you don't win, you'll be fired in a few years anyway, what's to stop you from rationalizing that the risk of cheating or breaking rules or looking the other way — and eventually getting busted — is worth it because you could be gone, one way or the other?

Rationalize all you want.

If even half of the new allegations in SI's report are true, the Buckeyes have to be in a mess of trouble. No more postponing or goofing with punishment for players involved. No more giving anyone the benefit of the doubt. The NCAA has to crush Ohio State for what's gone on inside the program. Either revamp the rules or enforce them.

Second, the notion that a head coach is unaware of what's happening with his players is weak. It's no simple task, keeping track of every athlete in matters ranging from football to grades to discipline to relations with boosters or agents to summer employment to adherence to laws to driving expensive cars to trading memorabilia for fill-in-the-blank.

But it's part of a coach's job.

Especially when whole groups of players are violating rules.

So, Tressel has made a load of money, won a lot of games, supposedly taught his players the importance of human values and virtues, and then … either been conniving or ignorant. Whichever, it cost him his job on Monday.

It cost him his reputation.

We'll see now if it sends a warning to college coaches around the country who might deserve to pay the same price for similar deeds already — or yet to be — committed, as the pressure to win rearranges — or rattles — their alleged principles.

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Gordon Monson Show" weekdays from 2-6 p.m. on 104.7 FM/1280 AM The Zone. —