James Patrick Tressel (born December 5, 1952) is an American
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...
coach and university administrator who is currently the president of
Youngstown State University in
Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, whi ...
. Before becoming an administrator, Tressel was the head football coach of the
Youngstown State Penguins
The Youngstown State Penguins are the athletic teams of Youngstown State University of Youngstown, Ohio. The university is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I, and the Penguins compete in football as m ...
and later the
Ohio State Buckeyes
The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...
in a career that spanned from 1986 until 2010. Tressel's teams earned several national championships during the course of his career, earning him numerous accolades.
Tressel was born in
Mentor, Ohio
Mentor ( ) is the largest city in Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 47,450 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area.
Mentor was first settled in 1797. In 1876, James A. Garfield purchased a home in Me ...
and attended
Baldwin–Wallace College
Baldwin Wallace University (BW) is a private university in Berea, Ohio. It was founded in 1845 as Baldwin Institute by Methodist businessman John Baldwin. The school merged with nearby German Wallace College in 1913 to become Baldwin-Wallace ...
, where he played football as
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Am ...
under his father,
Lee Tressel. Tressel succeeded
Bill Narduzzi
Bill Narduzzi (February 16, 1936 – February 4, 1988) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Youngstown State University from 1975 to 1985, compiling a record of 68–51–1. His son, Pat Narduzzi, i ...
as Youngstown State's fourth head football coach in 1986 and remained there until 2000. In 2001, he was named
John Cooper's successor as the head coach of Ohio State. During his tenure as Ohio State's 22nd head football coach, Tressel's teams competed in three
BCS National Championship Games, and his
2002 squad won a
national title, achieving the first 14–0 season record in major college football since
1897 Penn Quakers.
Tressel's tenure would, however, come to an abrupt end with his resignation in May 2011 amidst an NCAA investigation into improper benefits violations involving OSU football players during the 2010 season. The investigation resulted in OSU self-vacating victories from the 2010 season including the
2011 Sugar Bowl
The 2011 Allstate Sugar Bowl was an American college football bowl game that was part of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) for the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season and was the 77th Sugar Bowl. The contest took place on January 4, 2011, in ...
.
[On July 9, 2011, Ohio State announced that it had vacated all 12 wins (and its share of the Conference championship) from the 2010 season due to major violations of NCAA rules in which ineligible players were allowed to play.] Tressel finished his career at Ohio State with an official overall record of 94–22 (), including six
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
championships, a 5–4
bowl record, a 4–3 mark in
BCS bowl games, and an 9–1 record against the arch-rival
Michigan Wolverines
The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...
. Tressel's eight wins against the University of Michigan place him second in school history to
Woody Hayes, who had 16, and he is tied with
Urban Meyer as the only Ohio State head coaches to win seven consecutive games against the Wolverines. Tressel's success as a head coach led to him being inducted into the
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vo ...
in 2015.
From September 2011 until February 2012, Tressel was a consultant for the
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...
of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...
(NFL). From 2012 to 2014 Tressel served as Vice President of Strategic Engagement for the
University of Akron
The University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. It is classifie ...
, before being named as Youngstown State University President on May 9, 2014.
Early life
Tressel was born on December 5, 1952, in
Mentor, Ohio
Mentor ( ) is the largest city in Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 47,450 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area.
Mentor was first settled in 1797. In 1876, James A. Garfield purchased a home in Me ...
, a suburb of
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...
. His father, Lee Tressel, was the coach at Mentor's high school. After a 34-game winning streak at Mentor, Lee was hired as head football coach for
Baldwin–Wallace College
Baldwin Wallace University (BW) is a private university in Berea, Ohio. It was founded in 1845 as Baldwin Institute by Methodist businessman John Baldwin. The school merged with nearby German Wallace College in 1913 to become Baldwin-Wallace ...
in
Berea, Ohio
Berea ( ) is a city in Cuyahoga County in the U.S. state of Ohio and is a western suburb of Cleveland. The population was 19,093 at the 2010 census. Berea is home to Baldwin Wallace University, as well as the training facility for the Cleveland ...
. Baldwin–Wallace won the 1978
NCAA Division III
NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their ...
National Championship under Tressel's father. Tressel attended many of his father's games and practices, and developed a friendship with neighbor (and former
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conferenc ...
player)
Lou Groza
Louis Roy Groza (January 25, 1924 – November 29, 2000), nicknamed "the Toe", was an American professional football player who was a placekicker and offensive tackle while playing his entire career for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America F ...
. Tressel's mother Eloise Tressel worked as the athletic historian at Baldwin–Wallace while his father was the head coach.
After graduating from
Berea High School in 1971, Tressel played quarterback under his father at Baldwin–Wallace. As quarterback, he earned four varsity letters and won all-conference honors as a senior in 1974. Tressel also joined the
Alpha Tau Omega fraternity while attending Baldwin–Wallace. In 1975, Tressel graduated from Baldwin–Wallace with a bachelor's degree in education.
Family
Tressel and his wife Ellen, a
Youngstown State
Youngstown State University (YSU or Youngstown State) is a public university in Youngstown, Ohio. It was founded in 1908 and is the easternmost member of the University System of Ohio.
The university is composed of six undergraduate colleges ...
graduate, are actively involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Athletes in Action, the OSU Thompson Libraries and The Ohio State University Medical Center, particularly the James Cancer Center. Tressel has three children from a prior marriage: Zak, Carlee, and Whitney; Ellen has one, Eric. He currently lives in the
Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, whi ...
area. Jim's brother,
Dick Tressel
Dick Tressel (born. c. 1948) is a former American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from 1978 to 2000, compiling a record of 124–102–2. T ...
, served as his running backs coach at Ohio State for seven seasons after serving as the head coach at
Hamline University
Hamline University is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1854, Hamline is known for its emphasis on experiential learning, service, and social justice. The university is named after Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline ...
for 23 seasons. Dick's son, and Jim's nephew, is
Mike Tressel
Mike Tressel (born September 28, 1973) is an American football coach who is currently the defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach for the Wisconsin Badgers. Tressel, the nephew of former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel, joined the Un ...
, the defensive coordinator at the University of Cincinnati.
Coaching career
Early positions
After graduating from Baldwin-Wallace, Tressel became a graduate assistant at the
University of Akron
The University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. It is classifie ...
. He coached the quarterbacks,
receivers, and
running back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball,
and block. Th ...
s, while earning a master's degree in education. In 1978, he left to become quarterbacks and receivers coach at
Miami University
Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the ...
in
Oxford, Ohio
Oxford is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion of the state approximately northwest ...
. By 1981, he had left to become the quarterbacks coach at
Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
* Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
* Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
** North Syracuse, New York
* Syracuse, Indiana
*Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, M ...
. In 1983, he was hired at Ohio State to be the quarterbacks and receivers coach. That year, OSU had a 9–3 record, including a 28–23 victory over
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
in the
Fiesta Bowl
The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been pl ...
; a 39-yard pass from quarterback
Mike Tomczak to wide receiver Thad Jemison clinched the win with 39 seconds remaining in the game. In 1984, he was given the added responsibility of coaching the running backs. That year, the team became
Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
champs, played in the Rose Bowl, and
tailback Keith Byars
Keith Alan Byars (born October 14, 1963) is an American sports broadcaster and former American football fullback in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots and New York Jets.
Early life
B ...
finished second in the
Heisman Trophy voting. In 1985, OSU defeated
BYU in the Citrus Bowl.
Youngstown State
At the end of the 1985 season, Jim Tressel left Ohio State to become head coach at Youngstown State University. In Tressel's first season as coach, Youngstown State finished with a 2–9 record. In his second season, Youngstown State finished the season with an 8–4 record and won the
Ohio Valley Conference championship. From 1991–1994, Youngstown State would play in the
Division I-AA National Championship game four times. In 1991, Tressel won his first national championship, defeating
Marshall; the victory made him and his father the only father-son duo to win national championships in college football at that time (Vince and Larry Kehres have also won national championships).
Youngstown State won two more national championships in the following three years: against Marshall in 1993 (who had defeated them in 1992) and
Boise State
Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a pub ...
in 1994. 1997 brought Tressel his fourth national championship with a 10–9 victory against
McNeese State. He earned his 100th win against
Indiana State. 1999 marked Tressel's ninth visit to the Division I-AA playoffs, but the team lost to a
Paul Johnson coached
Georgia Southern in the title game. 2000 presented Tressel with more success, leading Youngstown State to a 9–3 season and its 10th playoff appearance. During the 1990s, Youngstown State had a record of 103–27–2, the most wins by any Division I-AA team and fourth most of both Division I-A and I-AA combined. Tressel's overall record at Youngstown was 135–57–2. He was also named Division I-AA Coach of the Year in '91, '93, '94, and '97.
In 1998, Tressel's reputation was blemished when it emerged that Ray Isaac, quarterback on his first national championship team, admitted to accepting massive benefits from
Mickey Monus Michael I. "Mickey" Monus (born 1947) is the former president of Phar-Mor, Inc., founder of the World Basketball League and was an original owner of the Colorado Rockies, a Major League Baseball expansion team. Phar-Mor was a deep-discount drug and ...
, the founder of
Phar-Mor and former chairman of the Youngstown State board of trustees. The NCAA had been tipped off about the violations in 1994, but dropped its inquiry after a cursory internal investigation by Youngstown State. The nature of the violations only came to light when Isaac admitted to tampering with a juror in Monus' first corporate fraud trial. It later emerged that Tressel had never met with Isaac during the initial 1994 investigation. Monus subsequently testified that when Isaac initially came to Youngstown State in 1988, Tressel called Monus and asked him to work out a job for Isaac. Youngstown State subsequently admitted to a lack of institutional control and docked itself scholarships. The NCAA ultimately faulted Tressel and Youngstown State for their cursory 1994 investigation, but did not cite them for wrongdoing. Youngstown State was also allowed to keep its 1991 title since the NCAA's statute of limitations had run out.
On July 9, 2007, Jim and Ellen Tressel, along with Frank and Norma Watson, donated $1 million to Youngstown State University for the building of an indoor athletics facility named the Watson and Tressel Training Site. The facility opened for use in the fall of 2011. This was the second major donation the Tressels and Watsons made to YSU. In 2003, they donated a combined $250,000 to the campaign for the Andrews Student Recreation and Wellness Center, which opened in 2005.
Ohio State
When
John Cooper was dismissed as Ohio State's head football coach following a loss to unranked
South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
in the
2001 Outback Bowl, Tressel returned to Ohio State and became Cooper's successor. While addressing the Ohio State community during halftime of a basketball game just after being hired as head coach, Tressel declared, "I can assure you that you will be proud of your young people in the classroom, in the community, and most especially in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the football field."
Tressel coached the Buckeyes to two 19-game winning streaks, one which spanned the 2002 and 2003 seasons and the other which spanned the 2005 and 2006 seasons. Tressel's winning percentage at Ohio State of 81.0% (maintained over an extensive 10 seasons/116 games coached) is tied with
John B. Eckstorm (29 games coached) for the second best in school history, behind only Carroll Widdoes' 16–2 (88.9%, 18 games coached) mark in the 1944–1945 seasons.
As Ohio State's head coach, Tressel was known for a conservative style of play calling (dubbed "Tresselball"), winning games with just enough scoring, strong defense, and "playing field position." Tressel often referred to the punt as the most important play in football. He is sometimes referred to as "The Senator" (most notably by
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
's
Chris Fowler
Chris Fowler (born ) is an American sports broadcaster for ESPN, who serves as the play-by-play announcer for ''Saturday Night Football'' on ABC and ESPN’s tennis coverage. He is also known for his work on '' College GameDay'', which he ho ...
), because of his composure on the sidelines during play and his diplomatic way of interacting with representatives from the media. He is also referred to as "The Vest" for his penchant for wearing a
sweater vest on the sidelines.
Until his retirement, Tressel was one of only two active coaches with five or more national championships in any division (only
Larry Kehres of Division III
Mount Union College has more with 10). He is the third Tressel to reach 100 wins, joining his father (155 wins) and his older brother, Dick (former OSU running backs coach), who coached at
Hamline University
Hamline University is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1854, Hamline is known for its emphasis on experiential learning, service, and social justice. The university is named after Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline ...
(124 wins). As a family, with Jim's 229 wins: Lee, Jim and Dick have won 508 games.
During Tressel's first year (2001), Ohio State had a 7–5 record. Ohio State returned to the Outback Bowl, where the Buckeyes once again fell to South Carolina. Although the Buckeyes lost on a last-minute field goal, the team battled back to tie the game at 28–28 after being down 28–0. Despite a second consecutive bowl loss and a 5-loss season, Tressel had coached the Buckeyes to a 26–20 upset victory over Michigan, fulfilling the promise he had made 10 months earlier.
The following year (2002) Tressel and the Buckeyes became the first team in college football history to finish 14–0, defeating the heavily favored
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...
Hurricanes in double overtime to win the
2003 Fiesta Bowl and the 2002 National Championship. It was Ohio State's first national championship in 32 years. That success made him the first coach in NCAA history to win the AFCA's Coach of the Year award while at different schools; he is also the first to win the award in two different divisions.
They were able to earn the national championship through close wins on a defensive-minded scheme that relied on field position. With a combination of senior leadership with
Michael Doss and freshman
Maurice Clarett, Tressel was able to pull out many close games during the season. Seven of their 14 victories were within 7 points including one overtime game against Illinois, and a double overtime game coming in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl.
Coming off the national title season, the Buckeyes earned an 11–2 record in 2003, but the team lost to Michigan in the 100th meeting between the two teams 35–21. The Buckeyes finished the 2003 season with a 35–28 victory over Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl on January 2, 2004.
In 2004, the team finished 8–4, closing out the season with a 33–7 victory against
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, ...
at the
Alamo Bowl
The Alamo Bowl is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game played annually since 1993 in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Since 2010 it matches the second choice team from the Pac-12 Conference and the secon ...
and upsetting Michigan in the annual rivalry game. Ohio State was unranked and Michigan was ranked 7th and the final score was 37 to 21.
During 2005, the Buckeyes had a 10–2 record which featured an early season loss to eventual BCS National Champion Texas and another in Happy Valley versus Penn State, who finished the season ranked third in the BCS. However, the season ended with the Buckeyes defeating
Notre Dame 34–20 in the
Fiesta Bowl
The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been pl ...
.
The
2006 Ohio State Buckeyes football team went undefeated in the regular season—including a 42–39 victory over Michigan which saw the first ever meeting between the two teams ranking numbers 1 and 2, respectively, in the national polls. Ohio State finished second in the final
AP and Coaches polls after losing the
2007 BCS National Championship Game to the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
, 41–14.
In the 2007 season Jim Tressel led the 11–1 Buckeyes to a third consecutive Big Ten Championship and second consecutive National Championship berth, played January 7, 2008 against the
LSU Tigers, in the
Superdome. However OSU was beaten 38–24 by LSU, becoming only the second team to lose two consecutive BCS title games (the first being the University of Oklahoma).
In 2008 Ohio State won their fourth straight Big Ten title. The Buckeyes played Texas in the Fiesta Bowl, coming back from an 11 point second half deficit to take the lead with just over 2 minutes to play, only to lose when Texas scored with 16 seconds remaining.
The 2009 team won its fifth straight conference title and earned a berth in the Rose Bowl against Oregon, winning the game 26–17.
The 2010 OSU football season finished with the team posting a 12–1 record. However, as a result of NCAA violations from Tressel knowingly using ineligible players, the 2010 season was vacated, leaving the team's official record for the campaign as 0–1.
The Tressel family continued the tradition of supporting the campus where Jim coached. As co-chairs on the contribution campaign, Coach Tressel and wife Ellen made a sizeable donation toward the renovation of Ohio State's $109 million William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library. The fourth-floor outdoor Tressel Terrace honors them for their contribution. Tressel also promised continuing donations to the library through royalties from his book, "The Winners Manual." The Tressel family also teamed with Ohio State's Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute by establishing, promoting and donating to the Tressel Family Fund for Cancer Prevention Research. Both of Jim Tressel's parents died of cancer. Further, the Tressels donated a monument titled "Traditions," erected in 2011 in a park near OSU's ROTC center. Remembrance park honors more than a thousand Ohio State alumni who, as military personnel, lost their lives in service to the United States.
NCAA violations and resignation
On March 8, 2011, Ohio State suspended Tressel for the first two games of the 2011 season and fined him $250,000 for failing to notify the school of NCAA violations involving Ohio State football players. The players had a financial arrangement with
Edward Rife, owner of a local tattoo parlor, who was at the time under investigation by the
FBI for drug trafficking. The arrangement, which resulted in five Ohio State football players being suspended, involved trading championship rings, jerseys, and other football-related awards for tattoos. That arrangement was a violation of NCAA rules, and would have rendered the players, including star quarterback
Terrelle Pryor, ineligible to play for portions of the 2010 season.
Tressel was first notified of the arrangement in April 2010 when he received several e-mails from Chris Cicero, a local attorney and former Ohio State walk-on football player. Tressel never forwarded the e-mails, nor the information contained in them about potential violations, to his school's compliance office or the NCAA. Although Tressel had held the position of Athletic Director at Youngstown State, Tressel's excuse was that he did not know whom to contact when he learned of the alleged violations. Tressel also later claimed not to have acted because of concerns about the confidentiality of the information, yet he immediately forwarded the first e-mail to Terrelle Pryor's mentor.
On December 7, 2010, Ohio State was notified by the Department of Justice that it had in its possession many items of Ohio State sports memorabilia seized from Edward Rife's tattoo parlor. In the ensuing investigation, Tressel was questioned by Ohio State on December 16 concerning his knowledge of the activities disclosed by the Justice Department (the sale of rings, jerseys, and football memorabilia to Rife). Tressel denied any specific knowledge of the violations, and claimed that he could not remember who had given him the vague information. A week later Tressel exchanged text messages with Cicero, the attorney who had originally notified him of the activities back in April. Tressel verified that the Justice Department matter involved the same players and issues as the April e-mails. Tressel remained silent, his long-time knowledge of the violations (and his subsequent intentional fielding of ineligible players throughout the season) revealed only when Ohio State inadvertently discovered the April 2010 Cicero e-mails in an unrelated search in January 2011.
On March 17, 2011, it was announced that Tressel requested Ohio State Athletic Director
Gene Smith that he extend his own suspension to the same number of games as his players. Smith accepted the request, and, as a result, Tressel would have missed the first five games of the 2011 season.
Ohio State President
Gordon Gee
Elwood Gordon Gee (born February 2, 1944), known as E. Gordon Gee, is an American academic. As of 2020, he was serving his second term as President of West Virginia University; his first term was from 1981 to 1985. Gee has held more university p ...
assured the public that Tressel would not lose his job over the matter. On April 25, 2011, the NCAA accused Tressel of withholding information and lying to keep Buckeyes players on the field. In a "notice of allegations" sent to Ohio State, the NCAA charged that Tressel's actions were considered "potential major violations" which had "permitted football student-athletes to participate in intercollegiate athletics while ineligible." The report also said he "failed to comport himself ... (with) honesty and integrity" and that he lied when he filled out a compliance form in September stating that he had no knowledge of NCAA violations by any of his players. Tressel later stated that he lied about the violations because he didn't want to jeopardize the FBI's investigation against Rife and also feared for his players' safety. Despite his stated safety concerns, Tressel only briefly spoke with two players, never inquired of the two if other players were involved and also in danger, nor in his discussions with players ever mentioned Mr. Rife, the tattoo parlor, or the selling of Ohio State merchandise.
[ Schlabach, Mark]
NCAA sends message to Ohio State
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
, December 20, 2011. The NCAA's report explicitly refuted the credibility of this excuse.
[
Tressel resigned as Ohio State's head football coach on May 30, 2011. Three days earlier, '']Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...
'' reported that it had found evidence that the memorabilia-for-tattoos scandal dated back to at least the 2002 national championship season, and as many as 28 players were involved. Early on the morning of Memorial Day, Gee and Smith called Tressel back from his vacation in Colorado and asked for his resignation. '' The Columbus Dispatch'' reported that Gee had appointed a special committee to examine the scandal's impact on the school. It also reported that Ohio State had been looking to cut ties with Tressel for several weeks. Tressel said in a statement released by the university, "After meeting with university officials, we agreed that it is in the best interest of Ohio State that I resign as head football coach. The appreciation that Ellen and I have for the Buckeye Nation is immeasurable." Luke Fickell, previously co-defensive coordinator and assistant head coach, served as head coach for the 2011 football season.
Tressel left Ohio State as the third-winningest coach in school history, behind Woody Hayes and John Cooper. However, on July 8, 2011, Ohio State vacated all of its wins from the 2010 season and placed the football program on two years' probation.
On December 20, 2011 the NCAA placed Ohio State on an additional one year's probation and banned it from postseason play in 2012 for numerous major violations under Tressel's watch. It also imposed a five-year show-cause penalty on Tressel, which means any NCAA member that wants to hire him would have to "show cause" for why it shouldn't be sanctioned for hiring him, and could face severe penalties if he commits any further violations during that time. The order stood until December 19, 2016; given past precedent, this likely had the effect of blackballing Tressel from the coaching ranks until the 2017 season. Had Tressel coached during this period, he would have been suspended for the first five games of the regular season, plus any conference championship game or bowl game.
Indianapolis Colts
On September 2, 2011, Tressel was hired by the Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...
as a game-day/replay consultant. Tressel was suspended by the Colts until the 7th game of the season due to his involvement in the NCAA violations during his tenure as head coach at Ohio State.
Administrative career
University of Akron
On February 2, 2012, Tressel accepted a non-athletic-department position where he started his coaching career, the University of Akron
The University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. It is classifie ...
. His title was Vice President of Strategic Engagement.
Return to Youngstown State University
In January 2013, various media reports stated that Tressel would possibly return to Youngstown State to replace retiring university president
A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system.
In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...
Cynthia Anderson as the next president of the university. While Tressel is still revered in the area (a new athletic training complex bearing his name, the Watson and Tressel Training Site, opened on campus in 2011), Tressel's highest level of education is a master's degree; a doctorate is virtually a prerequisite for any university president position in the United States. Combined with the show-cause penalty that was in effect for Tressel until 2016, on paper it would have been a tough sell for YSU to bring back Tressel. Supporters for bringing back Tressel also cited this, but mentioned that as university president, his primary job would be for fundraising
Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...
, in which Tressel had previously excelled over the years as head coach at both YSU and Ohio State.
On May 10, 2013, Randy Dunn was chosen as successor to Anderson but only stayed on the job for seven months ultimately leaving for Southern Illinois University. After Dunn's sudden departure, Tressel's name again came up for the position, with Tressel officially applying for the position on April 13, 2014, while simultaneously still being one of 19 candidates for the University of Akron
The University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. It is classifie ...
president's job. Nearly a month later, on May 9, 2014, the YSU Board of Trustees offered Tressel the university president position after a unanimous vote, after which Tressel accepted the position as YSU's new president and announced he was officially retired from coaching. On June 23, 2022, Tressel announced his retirement effective February 1, 2023.
Head coaching record
* Ohio State vacated all 12 wins from 2010, including the Sugar Bowl, due to ineligible players.
Awards and honors
National Championships
*NCAA Division I-AA - 1991, 1993, 1994, 1997
*Bowl Championship Series
The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of American college football, includin ...
- 2002
Coach of The Year
* AFCA - 1991, 1994, 2002
* Eddie Robinson Award - 1994
* Bobby Dodd Award - 2002
*Paul "Bear" Bryant Award
The American Heart Association (AHA) Paul "Bear" Bryant Awards are an annual awards banquet that is hosted each year in January, in Houston, Texas, by the AHA.For a list of American Heart Association offices, by state, go to: There are two aw ...
- 2002
* Eddie Robinson Award - 2002
* Sporting News - 2002
* Woody Hayes Trophy - 2002, 2006
*''Columbus Dispatch
''The Columbus Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and it has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since ''The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' ceased publication in 19 ...
'' Ohio College Football - 2010
Halls of Fame
*Baldwin–Wallace College
Baldwin Wallace University (BW) is a private university in Berea, Ohio. It was founded in 1845 as Baldwin Institute by Methodist businessman John Baldwin. The school merged with nearby German Wallace College in 1913 to become Baldwin-Wallace ...
Athletic Hall of Fame - 1975
*Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame - 2012
*Youngstown State Athletics Hall of Fame - 2013
*College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vo ...
- 2015
*Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame - 2015
State/local
*2008 Baldwin–Wallace College
Baldwin Wallace University (BW) is a private university in Berea, Ohio. It was founded in 1845 as Baldwin Institute by Methodist businessman John Baldwin. The school merged with nearby German Wallace College in 1913 to become Baldwin-Wallace ...
named its football field "Tressel Field (at Finnie Stadium)" to honor his family's affiliation with the school's football team
Coaching tree
Coached under:
* Jim Dennison
James L. Dennison (born February 5, 1938) is a former American football and baseball coach, player, and college athletics administrator. On November 11, 2012, Dennison retired as the head football coach at Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio. ...
: Akron (1975–1978)
* Tom Reed Thomas or Tom Reed may refer to:
Politicians and military
* Thomas Buck Reed (1787–1829), senator from Mississippi
* Thomas Reed (British Army officer) (1796–1883), British general
* Thomas Brackett Reed (1839–1902), Speaker of the House of R ...
: Miami (OH) (1979–1980)
* Earle Bruce: Ohio State
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...
(1983–1985)
* Dick MacPherson: Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
* Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
* Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
** North Syracuse, New York
* Syracuse, Indiana
*Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, M ...
(1981–1982)
Former assistants who became NCAA Division I FBS or NFL head coaches:
* Tim Beckman
Timothy David Beckman (born January 19, 1965) is a former American football coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Toledo from 2009 to 2011 and at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign from 2012 to 2014, compi ...
: Toledo (2009–2011), Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...
(2012–2014)
* Mark Dantonio: Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...
(2004–2006), Michigan State
Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...
(2007–2020)
* Luke Fickell: Ohio State
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...
(2011), Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...
(2017–2022), Wisconsin 2022-present
* P. J. Fleck: Western Michigan (2013–2016), Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...
(2017–present)
* Darrell Hazell
Darrell Ivan Hazell (born April 14, 1964) is a former American football college and National Football League (NFL) coach. Hazell has been a head coach twice, with Kent State from 2011 to 2012, and Purdue from 2013 to 2016.
A native of Cinnamins ...
: Kent State (2011–2012), Purdue (2013–2016)
* Paul Haynes: Kent State (2013–2017)
* Jon Heacock: Youngstown State
Youngstown State University (YSU or Youngstown State) is a public university in Youngstown, Ohio. It was founded in 1908 and is the easternmost member of the University System of Ohio.
The university is composed of six undergraduate colleges ...
(2001–2009)
* Mark Mangino: Kansas
Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...
(2002–2009)
* Mark Snyder
Mark Snyder (born December 30, 1964) is an American football coach and former safety who is the linebackers coach for the Orlando Guardians of the XFL and previously the linebackers coach for the Houston Gamblers of the United States Football Le ...
: Marshall (2005–2009)
* Mel Tucker
Melvin Tucker II (born January 4, 1972) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach at Michigan State University, a position he has held since 2020. Previously, Tucker served as the head football coach ...
: Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...
(2019), Michigan State
Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...
(2020–present)
See also
* List of college football coaches with 200 career wins
This is a list of college football coaches with 200 career wins. "College level" is defined as a four-year college or university program in either the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) or the National Collegiate Athletic A ...
References
External links
*
Encyclopedia of Baldwin Wallace History: Jim Tressel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tressel, Jim
1952 births
Living people
American football quarterbacks
Akron Zips football coaches
Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets football players
Indianapolis Colts coaches
Miami RedHawks football coaches
Syracuse Orange football coaches
Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches
Youngstown State Penguins football coaches
College Football Hall of Fame inductees
Heads of universities and colleges in the United States
NCAA sanctions
People from Mentor, Ohio
People from Upper Arlington, Ohio
Sportspeople from Greater Cleveland
Coaches of American football from Ohio
Players of American football from Ohio