Former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel is expected to be introduced by the University of Akron today as an administrator, possibly a vice president on the academic side, several sources told The Dispatch last night.

Officials from Akron would not confirm it but issued the following statement:

“When Jim Tressel and other alumni assisted us in our search for a football coach last December, we began to engage in dynamic conversations about Jim’s professional goals outside of athletics. We share a common interest in innovative programs for student success. Our discussions continue.”

It wasn’t clear in what capacity Tressel will serve.

Tressel was forced to resign on May 30 in the midst of an NCAA investigation of the program. He was ultimately judged by the NCAA to have not been forthright at the beginning of the investigation and was hit with a five-year “show cause” penalty in December.

In essence, the penalty means that if a school tries to hire him in its athletic department during that period, it must show the NCAA why and monitor his actions. It also puts restrictions on what he can do in terms of recruiting and other duties. But it likely would have little or no effect on a job outside athletics.

Four-year commitment

Ohio State has joined several Big Ten schools in making explicit that scholarships for their class of 2012 recruits are a four-year commitment.

Athletic scholarships typically are one-year, renewable agreements. That has given coaches an excuse to essentially cut a player deemed superfluous if they see fit. The NCAA has begun pursuing a rule change to prevent the exploitation of that rule by making scholarships a four-year deal, but the Buckeyes and others in their league are now beating the NCAA to the punch.

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said he considers it a matter of semantics because he said he has never pulled scholarships from players for athletic-performance issues in his previous college jobs.

“You’re going to graduate,” Meyer said. “We have that obligation. So you have a four-year scholarship. (With) a four-year scholarship, you (still) have the right thing. If you flunk out of school or have disciplinary issues, you lose your right to be on scholarship.

“But that was the same before. You can’t just take a scholarship from a guy."

Williams update

Meyer seemed optimistic about the progress of defensive end Nathan Williams, who played in one game last year before having microfracture knee surgery.

“Nate Williams, he’s doing good,” Meyer said. “Doing good in school. Lifting and training. He’s just not running (yet). It’s all positive, though.”

Told you so

Although some observers were surprised with the way Meyer and his staff closed on the 2012 recruiting class, defensive coordinator Luke Fickell was not.

He had served as the coach last season after Tressel resigned and was retained by Meyer, who was hired Nov. 28. But it was the final word on penalties from the NCAA in December that spurred the rebound, despite a postseason ban for 2012 and the loss of three scholarships in each of the next three years.

“I kept saying all year that when there (finally) is clarity with what’s going on in the program, we’ll be in good shape,” Fickell said.

brabinowitz@dispatch.com

tmay@dispatch.com