The players and coaches held a team meeting on Tuesday to discuss the recurring arrests of football players, then Tressel and five seniors met with the media yesterday to discuss the recent -- and ongoing -- trouble the players have been having with the law. Within the past two weeks, four players have appeared in court or police cars for violations ranging from traffic tickets to trafficking marijuana.

In all, 18 Ohio State football players have had brushes with the law since Tressel took over in 2001.

''Some of the things going on in the program, they can't go on any longer,'' offensive tackle Rob Sims said. ''It's frustrating to see us on the news all the time. We can't be like the other (college) kids. We came here to play football and there's a responsibility and privilege that comes with that. We have to be a role model for kids.''

That's hardly been the case lately.

Shortly after kicker Jonathan Skeete was arrested for marijuana trafficking a couple of weeks ago, redshirt freshman tailback Erik Haw was cited for possession of marijuana. Sophomore Tim Schafer, who started a handful of games at right tackle, was then ticketed for disorderly conduct following a fight outside a bar early Saturday and T.J. Downing on Tuesday pled not guilty to seven traffic tickets dating back to April of 2004. When Downing failed to appear in court last month, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest, which was withdrawn on Tuesday.

The five players yesterday -- linebackers A.J. Hawk and Anthony Schlegel, safety Nate Salley, offensive lineman John Conroy and Sims -- admitted they were embarrassed by their teammates' actions. But all five -- and Tressel -- refuse to cave to popular opinion that the way to solve the problems is to kick the next violator off the team, regardless of the offense.

''This is our football family,'' Schlegel said. ''What happens if your brother did something? You would be there for him and give him encouragement.

''You don't want an 18-year-old to make one mistake and say ÔYou're off the team.' You want them to learn from their mistake and grow. With the rules we have in place, that can happen and they can bounce back. There will be a punishment they may have to deal with, but you don't want to ruin people's lives. You want them to grow and overcome and be better men.''

Under former athletic director Andy Geiger, the university spent about $50,000 on drug and alcohol testing, men's basketball trainer Vince O'Brien said. He'll be heading up the new expanded drug and alcohol testing implemented under new athletic director Gene Smith.

Under the old system, all student athletes were tested at least once during the season. Then the university randomly tested 10 percent of its athletes out of season ''at least four or five times a year,'' O'Brien said. Under the new system, both the money allocated for the tests and the frequency of the tests could be doubled.

The new system, O'Brien stressed, has been proceeding since Smith arrived in Columbus.

''This was in the works,'' he said. ''I don't want anybody to think it's a knee-jerk reaction to anything that's happened in the last two weeks. This is something that's ongoing.''

Tressel called the stricter drug testing policy a ''passion'' of his and he was excited to learn Smith shared a similar view.

''I have had a suspicion that we have not invested here at Ohio State like we should have and like we are capable of,'' Tressel said. ''When there's more testing, it means more opportunities for a guy to slip up. But that's a good thing. In my mind, the more highway patrolmen there are along the interstate, the more you're going to watch your speed.''

During a stop in Cincinnati on Tuesday, Smith told the Cincinnati Enquirer the football program needs to clean up -- otherwise Tressel's job may be in danger.

''In the end, the reality is no recruit's parents are going to send their sons and daughters to a program like that, so you're going to end up with a bunch of kids doing that type of thing,'' Smith said. ''That type of program attracts a certain type of kids. So, yeah, a coach's job falls on the line, including mine if I continue to allow a program to emerge and operate that way.

''In the end, it's still not all about wins and losses. The fans will shoot me because they want to win, but that's not why I'm here. We will not tolerate consistent, poor behavior by our student-athletes.''

In a meeting with Tressel earlier yesterday, Smith warned him of the comments he had made in Cincinnati.

''(Smith) kind of related to me that he put his and my job out there in an interview,'' Tressel said. ''He said, ÔJust so you know, I mentioned that the football coach and the athletic director are judged by those things.' That's real. That's not a revelation.''

jlloyd@morningjournal.com