A week after receiving the trustees' letter, Gee emailed Jenkins, the Notre Dame president, and asked without explanation if they could meet when Gee traveled to South Bend, Ind., "in the near future." Jenkins responded the same day that he would "very much welcome a visit."

Two weeks after the letter, a contrite Gee referred to his penchant for misspeaking in a March 29 address to the Columbus Metropolitan Club. "Those kinds of off-hand comments do not reflect my own thinking and certainly they are not the Ohio State ideals," he said.

But Gee's direct apologies for the Dec. 5 remarks did not begin in earnest until May 20, when his office was already reviewing the request for the audiotape.

Gee called Alvarez on May 21 to apologize for his Dec. 5 comments, which included the Bielema quip and a remark that he would not want Alvarez as his athletic director, calling him "kind of bigger than life." Gee traveled to Notre Dame the same day to meet with Jenkins, and on May 24 called SEC Commissioner Mike Slive to apologize, according to the calendar. During the same week, he also called University of Cincinnati President Santa Ono with an apology, according to officials at both universities.

Alvarez denied ever calling Bielema a thug, said he had accepted Gee's apology and considered the matter closed. Notre Dame has called the remarks "regrettable" and said Jenkins had accepted Gee's apology.

On May 31, the day after Gee's remarks were made public, he emailed Bielema an apology. The next day, a Saturday, Gee called Bielema and University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto to apologize.

The following day, Sunday, June 2, Gee held an 8 a.m. meeting with a number of his top officials and aides, including the university's top communications official, chief internal lawyer and the Ohio State human resources director. Saunders said Gee met with his leadership team frequently during his tenure and it would be inaccurate to infer that such meetings noted on the calendar had anything to do with his retirement.

The same day, Gee also called University of Louisville President Jim Ramsey to apologize. Gee attended a meeting of the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors in suburban Chicago later in the day, then issued a statement apologizing to the Big Ten that night.

In his Dec. 5 remarks, Gee said Delany, the Big Ten commissioner, "is very aggressive and we need to make certain he keeps his hands out of our pockets while we support him."

Delany has called Gee's comments "inappropriate" and said they "in no way represent the opinions of the conference."

On Tuesday, June 4, Gee had breakfast with trustee chairman Bobby Schottenstein and lunch with Gov. John Kasich, according to the calendar. During the lunch with Kasich, which had been previously scheduled, Gee informed the governor of his decision to retire, Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols confirmed in a text message.

Gee met with other top officials during the day, then announced his retirement in a conference call with reporters around 3 p.m., followed by an email to the campus community.