Why is this news?: Terrelle Pryor apologizes, Chris Ash recognized

"It was a rule, I broke it and I was wrong for that"

-Terrelle Pryor, via Terry Blount, ESPN.com

On the local Seattle ESPN radio show Tuesday, Pryor discussed his opinions on the O'Bannon ruling and his regret for disappointing fans, teammates, and coaches. We've come a long way in our perception of the rights of student athletes since Tatgate. Now, instead of crucifying student athletes for wanting an extra dollar, the O'Bannon trial will give student athletes lots of extra dollars for cost of living.

Pryor seems to be taking it all in stride, even though he isn't (rightly) apologizing for something he doesn't feel guilty for. About the O'Bannon result, he says, "I'm glad they did that...The only thing I will say about that is when I was at Ohio State, all you see is red jerseys in the stands and you see a lot of No. 2s [Pryor's number at Ohio State]. I'll leave it at that." Instead, he apologized for letting his team, fans, and coaches down, but didn't express much regret over the action itself, which certainly seems fair.

"Whether the lake will be filled in time for the traditional Mirror Lake jump -- a question that has caused anxiety among some students -- is still unknown, Dial said."

-Collin Binkley, The Columbus Dispatch

In case you haven't taken a walk near Mirror Lake recently, the University decided to drain it last year in order to look for a new source. Turns out that Mirror Lake cost 50,000 gallons of water a day -- which it bought at a cost of $40,000 a year from the city.

Well, no more. After digging a well, the University is slowly starting to fill Mirror Lake back to capacity. While $40,000 may seem like a lot of money for the university, at least it's less than the tuition for two out of state students per year! Chump change. But this does seem like an awesome move environmentally.

It's unclear whether the lake will reach capacity in time for the annual jump. However, it will be a uniformly deep five feet when it does reach capacity.

"Vanderbilt athletics director David Williams said he could envision the scholarships schools offer being so different that it would naturally give rise to a cottage industry of agents or advisors to help parents compare packages or perhaps negotiate a better deal."

-Dan Wolken, USA TODAY

One of the first pieces of blowback to come out of the NCAA's new autonomous structure is the potential for what Vanderbilt's athletic director calls, "a cottage industry of agents" who help high school recruits get an accurate comparison of the varying cost of attendance scholarships at each school.

Right now, of course, it's illegal for student athletes to accept money from an agent and many schools don't want to risk potential NCAA violations by having educational days about and with agents. And it sounds like more education is necessary -- according to Wolken and Dabo Swinney, of the 98 underclassmen who declared for the NFL draft last season, 36 of them went undrafted. And even of the ones who were drafted, there's no guarantee that they'll make past their initial contract in the NFL. This puts student athletes at a disadvantage when making financial decisions, but there isn't a clear answer when dealing with something as fuzzy as collegiate amateur athletics.

"One of the better secondary coaches in the country, the 40-year-old Ash did an excellent job at Wisconsin before following Bret Bielema to Arkansas, where they didn't inherit much talent."

-Bruce Feldman, Fox Sports

Feldman has a list of the top defensive coordinators that are ready for head coaching jobs. At number nine in his list is our new co-defensive coordinator, Chris Ash. Feldman notes that Ash took a terrible Arkansas secondary (i.e. much worse than anything the Buckeyes have put out under Meyer) and made it serviceable in Arkansas.

As Feldman goes through Ash's resume, he rightfully argues that Meyer has a history of producing quality new head coaches and Ash would deserve it if he can make the Buckeye secondary into a championship-caliber defense. What's most exciting is his reputation as "one of the better secondary coaches in the country." That expertise can balance Luke Fickell's expertise on the front seven.

Speaking of Luke, he was conspicuously absent on the list, despite being Ohio State's interim coach between Tressel and Urban. Thankfully, however, Feldman is confident that his top defensive coordinator -- Pat Narduzzi -- is ready to take head coaching vacancy somewhere after this season.

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