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Ohio State Didn’t Miss A Beat

Ohio State was successful on the field in 2012, but overall, it was a disappointing season. 2013 shows a great deal of promise.

The following guest contribution was written by Richard Pallarino (@rpallarino).  Richard is a student at CUNY-College of Staten Island and Assistant to the Director of Artist Management at Wilhelmina Models.

Ohio State was successful on the field in 2012, but overall, it was a disappointing season. 2013 shows a great deal of promise.
Ohio State was successful on the field in 2012, but overall, it was a disappointing season. 2013 shows a great deal of promise.

The 2012 Ohio State Buckeyes Football program suffered 0 losses on their record, but were slammed with a ban that kept them from playing in the NCAA postseason.

In 2011, information was released that some of the Ohio State student-athletes were being paid by boosters for attending charity events, selling player memorabilia illegally, and were compensated too highly for too little work.

Former head coach, Jim Tressel, was informed of these violations in early 2010 and failed to report these illegal actions to the NCAA. When the violations became a story in the media, Tressel was then forced out and officially resigned on May 31, 2011 for not complying properly with the NCAA. The NCAA also laid a five year “show-cause” order, which essentially means that Tressel can not be a coach on a college football sideline for the next five seasons from the issue of the order.

Terrelle Pryor, former Ohio State quarterback now with the Oakland Raiders, ended his spectacular college career as a Buckeye a little earlier then he wanted to. Pryor was linked to making thousands of dollars off of signed memorabilia, signed by him, for charities, auctions, etc. Terrelle then announced that he would skip his senior year and withdraw from the university on June 7, 2011, eight days after Jim Tressel resigned. Pryor hired super-agent Drew Rosenhaus to get him into the NFL. The Oakland Raiders selected Terrell in the third round via the NFL Supplemental Draft.

Urban Meyer was then hired by Ohio State following the resignation of coach Tressel. Meyer took the year off from coaching after leaving a legacy at the University of Florida. Meyer signed a 6 year $24 million dollar deal to coach the Buckeyes. His first season, 2012, produced a flawless record, 12-0. The Buckeyes were at one point labeled as the number one team in the nation, via analysts, fans, but not by AP or coaches’ polls.

Coming into the 2013 season Braxton Miller, the junior quarterback, ranks as the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. The Buckeyes are hoping to win a National Championship in their first season being bowl eligible after their ban. Their recruiting class this year ranked third overall and included the number one safety recruit, Vonn Bell.

The Buckeye program is back on track, led by Meyer. It seemed to me that Ohio State took a year off just as Meyer did, because they were not playing in a bowl game this past winter. That wasn’t the case; this year Ohio State MAY go as far as hoisting the National Championship trophy above coach Meyer’s head on January 6th in Pasadena.

By Darren Heitner

Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.

Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.

Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.