[Lefty Noob]

Stunning rumors being reported by ESPN's Chris Mortensen. Word has it that Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel has an out clause in his contract if he wins a National Championship, and if the Buckeyes beat Florida, Tressel may -- and I emphasize MAY -- exercise that clause and take over as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns. Do you guys put any stock in these rumors?

[EmpireWF]

Wow. Talk about rumors lol. If true, this sucks for Romeo Crennel who deserves more time.

Has Tressel coached in the NFL before?

[Lefty Noob]

Not that I know of. If I recall correctly, he was an OSU assistant, then went to Youngstown State, then back to OSU. I imagine there was some coaching pre-OSU, but I don't know where or when... I really should go look that up somewhere...

[Lefty Noob]

No NFL experience.
1974-78: Graduate Assistant, Akron
1978-81: QB/WR coach, Miami (Ohio)
1981-83: QB coach, Syracuse
1983-85: QB/WR/RB coach, Ohio State
1985-00: Head Coach, Youngstown State
2001-06: Head Coach, Ohio State

This is according to Wikipedia, so it may not be 100% accurate.

[EmpireWF]

Doesn't seem like he's been in the NFL before. The connection to the Browns is they were his favorite team growing up.

I doubt he tries the NFL now, but do expect him to be the richest coach in CFB if he wins the National Championship.

[cwstech]

Crennel needs more time and more resources for that team to become a productive winning team. He is a great coach, why would they get rid of him for an college coach with no NFL experience?

[ThePundit]

The Browns would have to be crazy to hire Tressel.

College and Pro Football are 2 different animals. The only really successful coaches who made the switch from college to pros has been Jimmy Johnson and Bobby Ross:

Look at all the failures:

Lou Holtz
Pete Carroll
Dennis Erickson
Butch Davis
Mike Riley
- and let's not forget the second coming Nick Saban who has left the Dolphins in worst shape then when he got to Miami

[Notorious C.L.E.]

This would be an absolutely hideous move. Tressel does not have the personality to be a head coach in the NFL. He has stated numerous times that the NFL is an acronym for Not For Long. He thinks of himself as a teacher that molds boys into men. That's his rush. Not managing the egos of twenty-five year old millionaires.

[Lefty Noob]

I agree with Pundit and C.L.E. -- this would be a poor match. Tressell needs to stay at OSU and the Browns need to stick with Romeo.

[TopDawg]

There's been reports of this all over the place in Cleveland. I don't see it happening.

Not for the '07 season at least.

Romeo does, in fact, deserve another year to build upon the small foundation he's been able to lay down since he got here. In his first year, he cleaned house, and installed an entirely new defensive scheme.

His second year just didn't yield the overall win/loss column success that an impatient Cleveland fan base wants. Phil Savage is smart enough to know that there needs to be patience exercised by the front office, because it assuredly won't come from the fans.

When you make moves simply to appease the fan base, you run into a lot of problems.

If the Browns don't win 6 games (that's what I think it will take for Crennel to be ousted) next season and Tressel is still in the picture, certainly look for at least some talking between him and the organization. I don't see anything within the immediate future though

[Lefty Noob]

The Akron Beacon Journal is reporting Romeo will be back next year, so I guess that's that for this rumor, eh? But could Tressel coach in the NFL?

[ThePundit]

As I've said in many other posts, going to the college ranks to hire a pro coach is a bad decision. There are plenty of good assistants who have a feel for the pro game. I would go in that direction.

[kenman923]

Let him stay with college. He's liable to be a bust in the NFL.