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If I was a player, hearing "Hey it's not my fault, it's yours" from my coaches wouldn't sit too well my third time through the annual big-game meat grinder.

So I'm listening to my car radio on the way home from lunch and I hear a question from a frustrated fan to Ohio State football head coach Jim Tressel. It's the same question I would have asked so I listened intently, curious to hear how the senator would handle it.

The fan, after giving proper respect to the vest's record against the Big Ten, asked the coach whether or not he and his staff will change the way they do business in light of the third straight embarassment on the national stage in as many years.

The short answer from Tress? No, we don't need to. Say what? No, he went on to explain that the only difference between The Gatigerojans and the Buckeyes is player execution. Simply put, their players followed coaches' orders and our players didn't. If they had, we would have won. They didn't, so we lost.

How in the world could anyone with even a passing knowledge of football boil this entire thing down to player execution, absolving the coaching staff of any blame? And what does that do to inspire players to get better and coaches to evolve?

Mr. Tressel, with all due respect, you are wrong. And if you are right then the university should save the $3.5 million it is paying you each year and hand out "Football for Dummies" to every player instead. After all, if good execution of any play - hey, it doesn't really matter what it is! - wins you a football game then they don't really need coaches, do they?

No, the reason you are paid seven figures is that when the Floridas, LSUs, USCs and Ohio States get on the field, it is coaching that makes all the difference. Each one of these schools recruits from the same pool of talent. Each one of these schools gets roughly the same caliber of talent because of scholarship limits.

With such a small talent differential, it is up to the coaches to find the schematic advantages that will lead their teams to victory. Those who don't, well, they end up like Ohio State. They pound on inferior talent all season and then lay an egg the moment they get challenged.

It is a shame that these players give their blood, sweat and tears to this program only to be told, once again, that they were thoroughly outmanned, outplayed and outclassed on the national stage because they simply didn't follow direction. If I was a player, hearing "Hey it's not my fault, it's your's" from my coaches wouldn't sit too well my third time through the annual big-game meat grinder.

Shame on you Mr. Tressel, Mr. Bollman and Mr. Heacock for not being men enough to look your players (and your fans) in the eyes and say "We blew it again but we will change so it doesn't happen again."

But I have news for you: While you can try to spin and deflect the blame all you want, your fans know where the real lack of execution is...and so do your players.

Tags: jim tressel, ohio state football