Tressel paid $21.7 million at OSU (BLOG)

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Jim Tressel made $21.7 million as Ohio State football coach over his decade-long tenure before being ousted for breaking NC...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Jim Tressel made $21.7 million as Ohio State football coach over his decade-long tenure before being ousted for breaking NCAA rules, records from the publicly funded school show.

Tressel earned more than $3.5 million in 2010, the year he covered up an improper benefits scandal that has led to Ohio State being forced to appear before the NCAA’s committee on infractions this Friday.

The figures, released Tuesday to The Associated Press by Ohio State, show that almost a quarter of Tressel’s pay – $4.6 million – came from an exclusive deal under which Ohio State directed a portion of its exclusive deal with apparel-maker Nike to the coach.

During his career with the Buckeyes, Tressel was provided football game tickets valued at $104,800, more than $10,000 in Ohio State basketball tickets and over $21,000 in bowl tickets. His contracts also called for him to receive a $200,000 signing bonus in 2003, national-championship game bonuses worth a total of $835,000 (the Buckeyes played for the BCS title after the 2002, 2006 and 2007 regular seasons) and another $155,000 in bonuses for OSU players hitting certain academic standards.

In Tressel’s second season, Ohio State won the 2002 national championship – its first in 34 years.

Presidents of NCAA institutions are meeting this week in Indianapolis to discuss a number of issues, including expensive coaching contracts. Kansas State president Kirk Schultz wrote on Twitter that there were “lots of concerns” about the escalation of coaching salaries.

Tressel’s lawyer, Gene Marsh, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

By comparison to Tressel’s $3.5 million salary last year, Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee earned a raise in his base salary to $818,167 and received a $300,000 bonus.

Tressel was reimbursed almost $10,000 in 2008-09 for his membership and expenses at an exclusive local country club. Leased cars for the coach and his wife, Ellen, were valued at $23,000 for 2010-11.

Tressel was forced to resign on May 30 for failing to tell his bosses at Ohio State that he had learned players were trading memorabilia for cash and tattoos, breaking NCAA rules.