Jim Tressel is out at Ohio State, but that doesn't mean he'll make the jump to the NFL. "He likely has no future now in college," writes Gil Brandt of NFL.com. "He might at a much lower level, but not in the big conferences. As for the NFL, I think there's a tremendous difference between the two levels. You look at all the highly successful college coaches and not many of them seem to translate that to the NFL. I don't think the NFL is for Jim. "In the end, I think he'll end up at some small school in an unpaid type of capacity in which he helps young coaches and young people. That's what he always loved doing."

On the same day coach Jim Tressel resigned in the wake of an NCAA investigation, The Columbus Dispatch is reporting that the NCAA and Ohio State are looking into whether QB Terrelle Pryor received cars and other extra benefits. Pryor, who will be a senior this fall, has already been interviewed at least once by investigators, the paper reported. The newspaper cited unnamed sources who said this is the most significant inquiry of Pryor.

Jim Tressel, who guided Ohio State to its first national title in 34 years, resigned Monday amid NCAA violations from a tattoo-parlor scandal that sullied the image of one of the country's top programs. "After meeting with university officials, we agreed that it is in the best interest of Ohio State that I resign as head football coach," Tressel said in a statement released by the university. "The appreciation that [wife] Ellen and I have for the Buckeye Nation is immeasurable." Luke Fickell will be the coach for the 2011 season. He already had been selected to be the interim head coach while Tressel served a five-game suspension.

There is already an NFL name being bounced around as a potential replacement to Jim Tressel at Ohio State. "Gruden will be linked to many big-time coaching openings, in college and the pros," writes Mike Freeman of CBS Sports. "But over the past few months, and before Tressel was kicked out on his ass, Gruden told more than a few people he was antsy and desired a return to coaching. One assistant told me Gruden hasn't been shy about it, either."

Now that the NCAA has denied USC’s appeal to reduce sanctions imposed on its football program, Bowl Championship Series officials will consider whether to strip the Trojans of their 2004 title. BCS executive director Bill Hancock says there is no timetable for that decision, but he expected it to happen “sooner, rather than later.”

Notre Dame sent former coach Charlie Weis packing in November 2009 after five seasons and a 35-27 record, cutting short the final six years of the 10-year extension he signed during his first season on the job. But apparently the break wasn't quite so clean. Notre Dame will continue to pay him through 2015, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday. Notre Dame initially gave Weis a "termination payment" totaling more than $6.6M, but is still on the hook for "much smaller annual payments through December 2015" according to university tax documents reviewed by the Tribune.

Police were investigating whether drugs had a role in the death Thursday of Oklahoma linebacker Austin Box, and a witness told authorities he believed his friend had overdosed. Authorities didn't immediately release an official cause of death, and Box's body was sent to the state medical examiner's office. Box was 22.

Stanford has announced it is extending its annual football series with Notre Dame through the 2019 season, according to an Yahoo! Sports report. AD Bob Bowlsby said Thursday that the schools are extending their home-and-home series for eight additional years. The teams were already scheduled to play this year on November 26 at Stanford Stadium.

OSU will not have to pay for Jim Tressel’s legal team as the Buckeyes’ coach defends himself against NCAA charges that the knew his players received improper benefits but didn’t report it. AD Gene Smith, attending Big Ten meetings in Chicago with Tressel on Wednesday, confirmed to the AP in a text message that the coach is responsible for his own lawyers.

NCAA president Mark Emmert told the Justice Department on Wednesday that its questions about the lack of a playoff system are best directed to another group, the Bowl Championship Series. Other than licensing the postseason bowls, "the NCAA has no role to play in the BCS or the BCS system," Emmert wrote in a letter to the department's antitrust chief, Christine Varney. He added that short of member colleges and universities discontinuing the BCS and proposing an NCAA championship, "there is no directive for the (NCAA) to establish a playoff."