Vested Interest

After a close shave against Navy and bad losses to USC and Purdue, Jim Tressel found himself in the cross-hairs of fan base frustrated with shoddy offensive line play and what felt like a glacier-esque maturation process at the quarterback position.

A large section of fans, many of whom had clamored for the removal of Jim Bollman for years had reached their breaking point becoming increasingly vocal blaming The Vest for failing to remove the embattled o-line coach. Tressel was also roundly criticized for Pryor's shortcomings to that point in the season and many questioned if the Vest's choice as QB coach, Nick Siciliano, had a resume worthy of being within a 1,000 mile radius of Pryor considering his only previous QB coaching experience came at North Carolina A&T.

Of course, OSU plowed through the second half of the season including Tressel's first Rose Bowl win (as the HC) which helped boost his approval ratings dramatically but there's still no doubt all of us have our ideas and thoughts on not only what Tressel should do with his personnel but also with how he should run the program. With that in mind, we're curious as to what you would do if the Vest decided to grant you three wishes regarding the football program. So, your task today is to list exactly what three wishes you'd ask of the Vested One.

Personally, I'm going to refrain from the obvious topics such as Bollman and whether or not Tress should give up play calling. That said, here's three off the top of my head:

I Wish...Tressel Would Vehemently Lobby Against Future Throwbacks

I know, I know. I'm old (school) and reluctant to change. At least I know it. As a result, I'd love to see Tressel take a stand against OSU wearing anymore throwback jerseys.

Before you say it, I know this goes beyond Tressel and it's really about what Nike wants as part of their contract with the university but since we're wishing, I'd love to see Tressel passionately explain that OSU is bigger than this and doesn't need the money created via throwback jerseys, especially under the false pretense that the uniforms are solely about honoring past teams. It would also be nice for him to clarify to some that such shenanigans do not enhance things like recruiting even though some insist otherwise.

I Wish...Tressel Would Reach Out To Spielman Everyday for The Next Year

Though it would have to be in a limited capacity until Spielman's kids get a little older, I wish JT would call Spielman each day outlining the million reasons why #36 should be around to help coach the players in both football and life. Who knows, maybe Tress has already made this call, or plans to later out of respect for all Spielman has been through but there's no question his escalated involvement would be a tremendous boost for the program. As we've mentioned before, just having him on staff for pregame speeches would be worth a sizable salary.

While we're on the topic of Spiels, I would like to parlay this wish into a combo in which Tressel drafts an amendment to the existing retired number criteria so that #36 will hang from C-Deck where it belongs.

I Wish...Tressel would order a smoke machine for the Miami game

Wouldn't it be sweet if Tressel took a playful swipe at the days of the renegade 'Canes by having the Buckeyes charge out of the tunnel through some gangster smoke a la the days when Luther Campbell was the unsanctioned figurehead of that era? This idea could be further enhanced if all the players came out toting fake RPG's.

For whatever reason, I'd absolutely love to see the smoke machine - for just this game - before handing out a beat down to a program I've loved to hate since I was a kid. If you don't share in my hate, I can only assume you are too young to know better and haven't yet seen the two part 30 For 30 documentary on The U's gangsta-ness.