Eddie George starred at The Ohio State University in the mid-1990s, and left the school as the Buckeyes’ 2nd leading rusher. George went on to a prolific NFL career with the Houston Oilers / Tennessee Oilers / Tennessee Titans. I spoke with him briefly today about embattled Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, who the NCAA is currently investigating.

Q: What is your reaction to all of the allegations against Ohio State coach Jim Tressel?

George: It’s disheartening. But given the nature of the NCAA and what’s going on around all the schools as a whole, it’s not surprising. It’s disappointing that the leader we have, Jim Tressel, preaches integrity, teamwork, and ethics, and those very things he preaches, he’s being [accused of].

Q: Another highly visible former Buckeye, ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, said this week if your old coach, John Cooper, had been in the position Tressel is currently in, he’d be fired. Do you agree?

George: I agree. If it were anybody other than Tressel, he’d be fired. If he hadn’t been winning, he’d be fired. I don’t think any school would tolerate that. It doesn’t look good. There’s been some wrongdoing, he had the information and he didn’t report it … we’ll have to see what the penalty is.

Q: Have you talked to other former Ohio State players about the situation? What is their reaction?

George: Everybody’s shocked. We all thought the program was being well run. You never assume that everything is all clean and all good. The powers that be will handle it accordingly.