By Josh Katzowitz

On Friday, my CBSSports.com colleague Ryan Wilson asked the question: “Would the Colts interview Jim Tressel for a coaching job?”

Apparently the answer to that question is yes. Not only that, but it’s a resounding yes.

As WBNS-TV in Columbus is reporting (via the Cleveland Plain Dealer), Tressel already has had two interviews for the chance to replace Jim Caldwell, and the second one occurred Friday when owner Jim Irsay flew to Sarasota, Fla., where Tressel has a home, to talk with the former Ohio State coach.

If Indianapolis was to hire Tressel, it would be a stunning development.

On Thursday, CBSSports.com’s Mike Freeman talked to a source about the Colts possibly speaking to Tressel, who worked with the franchise as a game day consultant this season, and that source told him that there is “no way in hell” the franchise would consider it.

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Well, it sounds like Indianapolis is more than considering it.

Already, it’s been reported that the Colts have focused their attention on Titans defensive coordinator Jerry Gray and Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael.

Either way, this decision should be done seven days from now.

Already today, Irsay tweeted that Colts fans can expect a decision on the new coach by late next week. Will that person be Tressel? Somehow, it sounds like it’s most definitely a possibility.

And just as a reminder, this is what I wrotein October:

You wonder about Caldwell’s statement about wanting Tressel to get the hang of how the pro operation works. Does Caldwell eventually want to hire Tressel to be an assistant on his staff? Or what happens if the Colts deem Caldwell expendable after this debacle of a season is complete? Would Tressel be a candidate for the head coaching job?

If so, perhaps Caldwell should cool it on letting Tressel know too many secrets of pro football coaching (if it’s even Caldwell’s call). Otherwise, the guy he’s schooling might be the guy who is soon to replace him.

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Former Indy president Bill Polian sits with team consultant Jim Tressel before a game in November. (US PRESSWIRE)

By Ryan Wilson

The Colts are in the market for a head coach. After cleaning house in recent weeks, team owner Jim Irsay and new general manager Ryan Grigson continue their search for the man who will help return Indianapolis to prominence.

Jim Caldwell was sent packing Tuesday and the names of possible candidates to replace him span the gamut from old-hands to up-and-comers. Our very early list included both: Brad Childress, Marty Mornhinwheg, Wade Phillips and Rod Chudzinski.

The Colts are reportedly interested in talking to Childress, the former Vikings head coach. And Irsay's plane, according to the Indianapolis Star, was in Sarasota, Florida Friday morning before returning to Indianapolis later in the day.

Former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel, who resigned amid an NCAA investigation in May and joined the Colts as a consultant in September, has a home in the area. Multiple sources expect Tressel to interview for Caldwell's job, though the Star couldn't confirm this.

On Thursday, a Colts source told CBSSports.com's Mike Freeman that there was "no way in hell" that the organization was considering Tressel as Caldwell's replacement.

Freeman adds: "The source explained that owner Irsay likes Tressel and does want him to have some sort of role in the organization (a new head coach will have some say in that of course). Which is, well, incredible. If you remember Tressel resigned as Ohio State coach after it was determined the Buckeyes had numerous rules violations under his watch. Ohio State later self-vacated its entire 2010 season."

The three known candidates to be targeted for interviews with the Colts are Titans defensive coordinator Jerry Gray, New Orleans offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael and Cincinnati defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer.

Whoever ends up as Indy's new coach, the first order of business will be to decide what to do with the team's franchise quarterbacks (the one currently on the roster and the one they will inevitably draft in three months). Peyton Manning has been with the organization since 1998, although he missed the 2011 season with a neck injury. The Colts, fresh off a 2-14 effort without Manning, had won at least 10 games every year from 2002-2010 (including two Super Bowl appearances and one Super Bowl title).

But Manning is due a $28 million roster bonus on March 8 and there's a possibility that the organization could decide to move forward without him. Indianapolis holds the first-overall pick in April's NFL Draft and Irsay has already said that they will select a quarterback regardless of Manning's health.

"With Griffin and with Luck and the way it's shaping up in the top part of the draft, which very likely could go one and two like with Peyton and Ryan Leaf -- it's most likely one of those quarterbacks that you really feel is the best player in the draft, and where we're at moving forward, that you can't pass that up," Irsay told ESPN, per the Star.

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In the eyes of the NFL, close-talking is not a crime. (Getty Images)

Posted by Ryan Wilson

The NFL seems uninterested in dispelling the perception that there are two sets of rules -- one for the players and one for everyone else associated with the league. The latest instance came after Jim Harbaugh and Jim Schwartz reenacted the "Wait, what did he just do to me?!" scene that has played out at every pro wrestling match ever staged.


On merit alone the incident isn't worth a fine (and none was levied); the sheer embarrassment of being a part of such a spectacle is punishment enough. But this is the NFL, where no transgression is deemed too small (see, for example) … except when it doesn't involve players.

Remember when the Colts announced before the season that they had hired former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel as a game-day consultant? Instead of meting out the punishment, the league seemed happy to let Indianapolis handle it, but only after the story went public. That would've never happened had Tressel been a player (like, say, Terrelle Pryor).

Understandably, these inconsistencies irk players, and two of them spoke out about it Thursday during an appearance on NFL Network's Total Access. Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey and Texans wideout Derrick Mason, who have 28 years of NFL experience between them, were amazed Harbaugh and Schwartz escaped punishment.

(For what it's worth -- and we imagine not much -- NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said this on Monday: "Fortunately, there was no fighting and thus no basis for a fine. … However, both coaches told [VP of football operations] Ray Anderson today that their post-game conduct was wrong and will not happen again. ... We believe their response is the correct one and that their post-game conduct going forward will be more appropriate.")

“What if that was a player? How would (the NFL) react to that?,” Bailey asked. “These are supposed to be the leaders of our team(s), and you let them get away with it, so to speak, and now how do you think the players will start acting? I like it personally, but I just know how the NFL operates today, it’s amazing to me they let this slide.”

Mason agreed.

“I think they should have (been fined), because these are the leaders of your team,” he said. “I think the NFL should have slapped them with some type of fine, $5,000 or $10,000 here or there, to at least show them they have to be responsible for what they do on the field.”

We love that Mason has no idea how much the coaches should've been fined, no doubt because the league has a history of arbitrarily handing out punishments.

It's one thing to be strict -- we get that. There's a plan, and even if most people don't agree with it, they know the rules going in. But when the judge, jury and executioner is a paranoid schizophrenic you're going to have issues like this crop up several times a season.

(By the way, Yahoo.com's Doug Farrar notes that "it could certainly be argued that both [Schwartz and Harbaugh] stepped on the wrong side of this one," and then points to the NFL's fine schedule which plainly states that "Sportsmanship: Excessive Profanity; other Unsportsmanlike Conduct (e.g., toward opponent(s), game personnel, fans, etc.): $10,000 / $20,000.")

In a web-exclusive, the analysts answer your questions for the 7th week of the season. Get the latest from JB, Phil, Cris, and Warren.

This seems like a good place to include what some other NFL coaches had to say about The Handshake when it invariably came up at their respective weekly press conferences.

Bill Belichick: "[The post-game handshake] is so heavily scrutinized by the media that it’s an event bigger than the game itself, which is so absurd. Like a lot of things, it takes any personalization out of the game and makes it a public topic of discussion. I think it’s pretty ridiculous that the media focuses on it the way it does.

“I’d like to think that the reason that the people are there is to see the game and to see the competition. But they seem to want to talk about everything but the game. That’s not uncommon. That’s the media’s job, so that’s what they do. It certainly takes away from, as a coach, the things that you would say, so you find other times to do it outside of that. Maybe before the game, or a phone call to the coach after the game, that kind of thing.”

Mike Tomlin: "I really have no thoughts [on the handshake]. I think it is the same sometimes, when we pay attention to things that are meaningless, insignificant. The story of the NFL should be on the game itself. That was a hard-fought game played by two really good football teams, two exciting teams on the rise. I think that should be the story, not some unfortunate incident that happened after the game. I think that is silly."

When asked what does into a handshake, Tomlin was frank.

"I don't practice it. I don't think about it. I am just going to be cordial, be respectful and wish them well moving forward. I don't know about the norms, OK. I don't get into that. If I spend too much time thinking about the handshake, then I am not doing my job."

John Harbaugh: "I can just tell you this: I think I know who was right. But whoever was right or wrong, I know whose side I’m on. I’m definitely taking sides. [It’s] the same side I’ve always taken. … You know what? Everybody’s got a lot to learn. So I guess right now, [Jim's] 5-1. If the biggest lesson he has right now is how to shake hands postgame, after a victory, he’s doing OK.”

Fair point. But as one NFL coach told CBSSports.com's Clark Judge, Harbaugh and Scwhartz "are going to regret it in the morning. They just bought a film clip for life."

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

With his suspension complete and with the activation of Terrelle Pryor to the Raiders squad (unfortunately for him, some other guy is going to be starting at quarterback in Oakland), now we’ll turn our attention for the other former Ohio State star who was couldn’t work in the NFL because of his role in the recent Buckeyes football scandal.

That would be Jim Tressel, who was hired to check game replays by the Colts, will begin working for the team this week, the Indianapolis Star writes. 

The delay of his hire was the Colts idea, because, they realized, it would look pretty crappy if Pryor couldn’t play for five games while Tressel could begin earning a paycheck right away (the NFL did say it would have suspended Tressel if the Colts hadn’t made this move).

Now, it sounds like Tressel will have more duties than simply checking to see if an official’s ruling should be challenged. Which makes sense from Tressel's perspective, considering that’s a job for which Tressel might be slightly overqualified.

Originally, Caldwell said Tressel would be a gameday consultant, but now, Tressel might get to come into the team complex in the middle of the week as well.

"I want him to come around to make certain he gets a feel for how we do things with practice, preparation, all those kinds of things," Colts coach Jim Caldwell said. "The rest of the time, it will probably just be toward the weekends, but he will be around."

You wonder about Caldwell’s statement about wanting Tressel to get the hang of how the pro operation works. Does Caldwell eventually want to hire Tressel to be an assistant on his staff? Or what happens if the Colts deem Caldwell expendable after this debacle of a season is complete? Would Tressel be a candidate for the head coaching job?

If so, perhaps Caldwell should cool it on letting Tressel know too many secrets of pro football coaching (if it’s even Caldwell’s call). Otherwise, the guy he’s schooling might be the guy who is soon to replace him.



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Posted by Will Brinson & Ryan Wilson

CBSSports.com's Pick-Six Podcast never takes a break. Or we thought that Labor Day meant we were supposed to work and accidentally showed up to the office. Whatever. While we're here: get your iTunes subscribtion on right here.

You can also listen below, when we talk about Peyton Manning's injury, Jim Tressel's non-suspension suspension, whether Randy Moss is coming back, whether Matt Cassel will start in Week 1, Sean Payton's contract, why Tiki Barber is so laughable and much, much more.

Hit the play button below to listen (and did we mention that you should subscribe to the podcast via iTunes?). If you can't listen to the podcast below, download it here. And if you'd like to keep working while listening in your browser, pop that puppy out in a new tab here.



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Posted by Will Brinson

Our own Mike Freeman reported earlier Monday that Jim Tressel's employment with the Colts will begin in the seventh game this season. In other words, he's being suspended for six games by the Colts and/or maybe the NFL, though it's not actually being called "a suspension."

Additionally, reports have circulated that the non-suspension suspension was actually Tressel's idea. It is, for technical purposes, not an NFL-imposed suspension. However, plenty of speculation surfaced Monday afternoon about what role the NFL played in the decision to "wait to hire" Tressel.

Fortunately, the NFL gave that some clarity before too much could be made of the decision.

"On the Jim Tressel matter, the team's statement acknowledges that our office had discussions with the Colts over the weekend," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello tweeted Monday. "[The] Colts fully understood issues & committed to addressing them. We were informed last night of decision reached by the team & Mr. Tressel.

"We believe decision reached by the Colts and Jim Tressel is appropriate. He will begin working as a game-day consultant after 6 games."

As Ryan and talk about in the most recent podcast (coming soon!) this probably is appropriate. Unless you're Jim Caldwell, in which case you'd like to make the decision to wait and hire Tressel a little more permanent. 

For the NFL, this is a weird line to establish -- without establishing! -- because what happens if the Bengals try to hire Butch Davis? That's a hypothetical situation, of course, but would they be given the same freedom to make the decision as the Colts? And what would be the appropriate way to determine if and when it was OK to begin employing Davis with the team.

I firmly believe that the league and the Colts (and Tressel himself?) are doing the correct thing in making sure that he can't simply waltz out of college football and immediately get a job in the NFL, especially if Terrelle Pryor is in the middle of a five-game suspension.

But there's nothing right about meting out punishment in a seemingly random way, and as while there might not be an issue with this right away, it would probably make everyone feel better about the transition of coaches if there was a clear-cut process for regulating NCAA violators and their entrance into the NFL.

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Posted by Ryan Wilson

Terrelle Pryor has notified the NFL and the NFL Player's Association that he intends to appeal the five-game suspension handed down by commissioner Roger Goodell as part of the league's decision to allow Pryor to be eligible for the supplemental draft last month, the NFL Network's Albert Breer is reporting.

If nothing else, you have to appreciate the timing. On Friday, the Colts hired Jim Tressel, Pryor's coach at Ohio State before a scandal led to Pryor leaving school and Tressel resigning, as a game-day consultant. The problem: the move was made without the approval of the league office, and according to a PFT.com source, the league must give the OK before all hires become official.

Yahoo.com's Doug Farrar tweeted Sunday morning that it was a "Smart decision by Pryor and his people to appeal five-game suspension now. NFL has to address Tressel, change the [suspension], or REALLY look bad."

As we found out with the lockout, these things are as much about right and wrong as they are about winning the public relations battle. Then again, Goodell has shown in the past that he's willing to make unpopular decisions. Steelers backup quarterback and longtime Pryor mentor, Charlie Batch, recently told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that Goodell has too much power.

"He took it to another level when he said he was going to suspend Terrelle Pryor for five games and he wasn't even in the NFL last year," he said. "How can you do that? It's not right. It's not right at all."

Pryor's Journey to Oakland

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Players have also taken issue with Goodell arbitrarily meting out punishment, perhaps none more vocal in recent years than Batch's teammate, linebacker James Harrison. (More proof that there appears to be no method to Goodell's perceived madness: he didn't suspend Kenny Britt or Aqib Talib for serious and persistent offseason incidents.)

Pryor's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said on August 24 that Pryor would not appeal the suspension. Clearly, that has changed.

Now, in addition to the Tressel situation, the league will also have to deal with Pryor appealing his five-game suspension. As for the former, PFT's Mike Florio notes that it's not a question of if the NFL will allow Tressel to work for the Colts, but when.

"In Tressel’s case, the league faces a tricky decision," Florio wrote Saturday. "Notions of fairness and consistency require the league to treat Tressel, who resigned from Ohio State under duress after admitting that he failed to share with the NCAA information regarding activities that jeopardized the eligibility of Pryor and other players, the same way that it treated Pryor. By delaying Tressel’s entry to the NFL, the league would be bolstering the perception that overt favors are now being done for the curators of the free farm system.

"The question doesn’t become relevant until the Colts submit Tressel’s contract for approval by the league office. It hasn’t happened yet. Once it does, Tressel’s fate will be in the Commissioner’s hands."

The easiest way for the league to avoid the potential PR fallout? Punish both parties in a manner than most people would deem fair. History suggests that Goodell doesn't fully understand that dynamic. Or maybe he does and he doesn't care. Either way, the commissioner now has two more things on his to-do list with the start of the season less than a week away.

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

UPDATED (7:37 p.m. ET): CBSSports.com's Clark Judge reports that the league is "looking into" the report that Jim Tressel has been hired by Indianapolis.

"We just became aware of the report," a league spokesman told Judge, "and will look into it to determine the facts."

----------

It was awfully predictable that disgraced Ohio State coach Jim Tressel would land a job in the NFL. Somehow, some way, it seemed obvious to predict that Tressel, through the coaching network, would find something to do (other than count all the money he made at Ohio State before the Buckeyes axed him for looking the other way when his team was violating NCAA rules and then lying about it).

Today, the Colts and coach Jim Caldwell did exactly that, hiring Tressel as a gameday consultant. That means his main job will be to consult on replays, which means the other coaches on the Indianapolis staff won’t have to worry about it as they go about their business.

But there’s also one interesting aspect in all this predictability. What will Roger Goodell think about this? And most importantly, will he slap Tressel with a suspension for his part in the Ohio State controversy that ensnared now-Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor? You’ll recall that Goodell had no problem suspending Pryor for his college transgressions.

In fact, this is what he said when he announced that Pryor was eligible for the supplemental draft but would have to take an immediate five-game vacation.

“Pryor made decisions that undermine the integrity of the eligibility rules for the NFL Draft,” Goodell said. “Those actions included failing to cooperate with the NCAA and hiring an agent in violation of NCAA rules, which resulted in Ohio State declaring him ineligible to continue playing college football.

"Pryor then applied to enter the NFL after the regular draft. Pryor had accepted at the end of the 2010 college football season a suspension for the first five games of the 2011 season for violating NCAA rules. Pryor will be ineligible to practice prior to or play in the first five games of the NFL regular season after he signs."

So, what will Goodell say about Tressel? He can’t, in good conscience, let Tressel work without some kind of punishment, can he?

I don’t know, but I can guarantee you one thing: the players will be paying attention – they certainly were when Goodell was deciding to suspend Ben Roethlisberger – and I’m sure the NFLPA will be doing the same (need proof? This is what NFLA spokesman George Atallah tweeted: "The NFLPA will be watching the Jim Tressell situation with interest.") If Goodell lets Tressel off with no punishment, the outcry will be loud and it will be angry. And rightfully so.

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