According to numerous players, Jim Tressel blew a gasket in the locker room at halftime of the Penn State game, steamed over his team's lousy showing and the 14-3 score. Some of this might be folklore and some might be denied three times before dawn, but this is a pretty good version of what went down, behind those locker room doors:
As the team shuffled in, Tressel told the visiting recruits to step outside, and he asked a student assistant to get him a cup of water. The assistant came back with Gatorade and Tressel flipped, yelling that "I've got a room full of football players that are not doing much right, dont tell me I have student assistants not doing things right...GET ME A GLASS OF WATER -- NOW." The embarrassed student assistant returned with the cup of water.
Tressel then asked his six captains to walk to the center of the room and face a mirror, and then asked them if the OSU coaches had prepared them for Penn State. He said he wanted to know if the coaches had failed. There was nothing but silence. Tress then asked them to look in the mirror and tell him what they see. More silence.
Tressel barked that his question required an answer. After more painful silence, Cam Heyward said he saw a guy who was not playing at his best. Tressel fired back: "It's November, Cam....its God d*** November! This isnt the God d*** spring game...IT'S NOVEMBER and we are playing at home with the Big Ten Championship in our hands!"
He then asked Brian Rolle what he saw, and Rolle fell on the sword, admitting that the captains were not leading. Tressel asked: "B-Rolle, how many Big Ten Championships have you won and how many of those were handed to you?" Rolle responded "I've won 3 and none of them were handed to me, sir."
Tressel got louder and more emphatic. "NONE....NOT A GOD D*** ONE OF THEM.
He then asked the captains to sit down with the team and launched into an extended tirade, reminding his team that ESPN was there to see Joe Paterno, and not them. He chastized them for resting on the accomplishments of past seasons. Tressel then reminded his team about all of the Veteran's Day interaction they had with service members past and present, and told his team that many of those service members were at the game as guests of the team.
"They are here today as guests and we honor their service with a horse **** performace like that?" Tressel snarled.
The Buckeyes then scored 35 straight points and dominated Penn State. After the game, Tressel called the student assistant back up in front of the team, apologized to her, and gave her the game ball.
It's now Buckeye folklore.
