“Maybe two, three at best,” that was the pervading wisdom on sports websites across the country, including right here on The Sports Jury, when discussing how many of the five suspended Ohio State football players would return for their senior season.

Sure, all five had promised head coach Jim Tressel that they would return, it’s why they were allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl in the first place. But what does a promise to a head coach really mean? These guys obviously aren’t high-character, or they wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place. Surely these young adults, who had already shown that there was little they valued more than money wouldn’t stick around another year. Why turn down a big-time paycheck to play 60 percent of your senior season? Terrelle Pryor, Boom Herron, DeVeir Posey and the rest—good as gone!

Then, a funny thing happened. Saturday’s deadline to declare for the NFL Draft came and five names were missing from the list of early entrants. Pryor, Posey, Herron, Adams and Thomas all kept their word. After a month of having their integrity questioned for decisions that they made as freshmen, the Tat-Five showed that they just might have learned something.

So why did they do it? I could offer a million explanations, all speculation. The truth is, each player had his own reason. However, a few things are certain. The contrition that Pryor displayed after the Sugar Bowl, and the apologies that were delivered leading up to the game, were far more than lip service. Also, all of the talking heads out there who thought that the suspended players would renege on the promise they made to their coach couldn’t have been more wrong. Jim Tressel is nothing if not a players’ coach. The fact that he is still mentoring Maurice Clarett speaks to this fact better than anything I could ever write. Tressel’s players know this and they rewarded his loyalty with theirs.

The other thing I know for sure is that those predicting that these suspensions will spell the end of Ohio State’s national title chances might be mistaken. Terrelle Pryor is the only suspended player that can’t be replaced. Ohio State has the depth to make up for the absence of the rest. The offensive burden will fall on a trio of talented and highly-recruited tailbacks including Jamaal Berry, Jordan Hall and red-shirt freshman Rod Smith. Expect a steady diet of vintage Tressel Ball, controlling the clock with the run and playing solid defense. The two big tests are against a Miami team that is in transition and a Michigan State squad that was exposed as a fraud in the Capital One Bowl.

While the five players may not be making money next fall, they have a chance to accomplish quite a bit. They can realistically finish their careers with more than 40 wins, four victories over Michigan, a 3-1 bowl game record and possibly a national championship. A month ago, I wasn’t sure that the Tat-Five cared about things like that.  I was wrong. Well, as they say, I guess this is growing up.