Random thoughts while wondering when Jim Tressel is going to swoop in and take the Niles football job:
Interest, zip: Tressel, who is awaiting the final NCAA ruling on violations and the ensuing coverup at Ohio State, would have been a huge hire for Akron. The Zips have nowhere to go but up after an abysmal two years with Rob Ianello ruining what was left of the program.
But Tressel to Akron just didn't make sense, and not just because the former Youngstown State and OSU coach faces a possible "show cause" ruling from the NCAA. That possibility clearly didn't bother Akron, but there was no mutual interest.
With the Zips, Tressel would have been going after many of the same recruits YSU chases. Would he have wanted to do that to the Penguins? Akron also battles rival Kent State in the recruiting wars, and the Golden Flashes are coached by former Tressel assistant Darrell Hazell.
Finally, I think Tressel will have another opportunity to coach again if that's what he wants to do. And remember, he say he didn't want to coach. He told Akron athletic director Tom Wistrcill he didn't want to coach the Zips.
There is a good chance Tressel's next coaching job, if it is in college football, won't come this offseason. But it should come sooner or later. The man can coach and motivate players. Tressel made a huge mistake, but I'm puzzled that some of the same people who called for his head - and those of other coaches - are the same people who have no problem with offering multiple "second" chances to players.
WWR REUNION: Joe Novak led the Warren Western Reserve football team to Ohio's Class AAA state championship in 1972 before moving on to coach at the college level. Novak retired in 2007 after 12 seasons as the head coach at Northern Illinois and now lives in North Carolina.
Novak called recently to let us know he is working to put together a 40th anniversary reunion of that WWR title team in Warren next fall. The event is likely to be coordinated in conjunction with a Warren G. Harding home football game in September or October.
Those associated with the 1972 Raiders - players, coaches, cheerleaders, etc. - can contact Novak at 910-880-1670.
"They can call any time," Novak said. "If there is no answer, they can leave a message and I'll call them back."
GOING BOWLING: It doesn't seem as though a bowl ban will be part of Ohio State's NCAA punishment, so senior tailback Dan "Boom" Herron is likely to play one more game for the Buckeyes.
The question is where. There are plenty of projections out there. I've seen Ohio State penciled in for the Gator Bowl (vs. Florida or Auburn, at Jacksonville, Fla.), Insight Bowl (vs. Texas, at Tempe, Ariz.), Ticket City Bowl (vs. Temple, at Dallas) and Little Caesars Bowl (vs. Northern Illinois, at Detroit).
The Buckeyes might be 6-6 and they might have NCAA penalties hanging over them, but Ohio State remains an attractive team for any number of bowls because its fans travel extremely well.