WRITTEN BY CARL E. DAVIS

Hey Coach Tressel,

I see things haven’t been going your way with the media these past couple of weeks. You’ve had the whole eye black incident with your star quarterback, and then it’s the whole weight of the entire Big Ten on your squad’s shoulders thing as well. It seems recently that people have turned against you. I just wanted you to know all is not as bad as it seems. I do however think you need to loosen up a bit and let the kids play.

Here me out on this one. Your conservative nature is not always a good thing. I know that your track record in the way you run things speaks for itself, but sometimes you need to unleash the athletes you have. You have been in the top 20 in recruiting consistently since you arrived at Ohio State. So the questions about your squads not having the talent to compete are nonsense. So maybe you need to find a scheme or a philosophy that will prove more effective against elite competition when the Buckeyes don’t possess a decisive talent edge. Just a thought.

Also, while you and the AD should be applauded for scheduling tough non-conference games, have you guys ever thought about a schedule makeover? By that I mean, why don’t you put the game against Michigan in the front of the schedule and take on BCS team in November? Your team and teams in the north are always called slow compared to the schools in the south. Why don’t you try and get one of them to come to the Shoe when the temperature is 30 degrees. Let’s see how that “speed” transitions to the snow. Now, while you will still have to win the game, it should show people how exactly your team is built and that’s to win games in bad weather. Just a thought.

In closing, I just want to say that you are doing a good job down there in Columbus. The way you conduct the team and keep everyone together should be applauded. If you choose to take my advice into consideration wonderful, if not I understand. If you didn’t know what you were doing, you would not have lasted this long in coaching. So good luck in conference play this year, and I expect to see the team in the Rose Bowl this year.

Just don’t get beat by Toledo this week (that would not be a good look at all). If you thought that sweater vest was getting tight after the loss against USC, you really don’t want to see what would happen if the rockets knock you guys off.  Just a thought….