Jim Tressel’s life has been full of unknowns since he was hired as the 22nd coach of the Ohio State football program on Jan. 18.
Where will he live? Who will be his assistant coaches? What in the world is he going to do with Steve Bellisari?
But no question has been as pressing as, “How in the world is he going to save the recruiting class?”
With only three weeks left, Tressel knew he had to act quick.
“We went in state, out of state, had some kids visit, and then we went back to the in-state again the second time, did the out-of-state again, had some kids visit, and then it was signing day,” Tressel said.
He also admitted that the coaching change had a small impact on recruiting.
“The kids love Ohio State, so that was still there. It wasn’t like Ohio State had changed. But the people working with them had changed so they needed to get to know us,” he said.
On Feb. 7, Tressel announced the 2001 recruiting class, which included 10 players from Ohio, four from Florida, and one from Kentucky, Indiana and California.
“I am real content with the recruits,” Tressel said. “We pulled some out in the midnight hour that a lot of people were surprised that we did, which was kind of neat.”
One of those players included Brookhaven sensation Maurice Hall, who didn’t announce his decision until late in the afternoon of signing day.
“There were probably three kids that I wish we would have gotten that we worked hard on the last three weeks, Tressel said. “There was a kid from Florida who ended up going to Florida State, whose Dad played for Florida State. Mom didn’t want him to go there, Dad did, and I thought we were a good alternative.”
“I used to think before I became an assistant coach here back in the ’80s that if I ever coached at Ohio State I would never lose a recruit,” Tressel said. “I mean how could you lose a recruit if you’re at Ohio State?”
“But then I got here as an assistant coach and the competition changes — now it’s Michigan, Notre Dame and Southern Cal. So you do lose some (recruits).”
Lydell Ross, a 6-foot, 205-pound tailback from Florida, was one of Tressel’s biggest accomplishments. “He is just a wonderful kid. He had committed to Notre Dame. Then he went to Florida and liked Florida better. And then when he came here he liked Ohio State better.”
“National signing day is the only real commitment. A lot of times these kids are so bombarded — everybody in the world is calling their house, stopping by their school, pulling them out of class, and bugging them so much that they say, ‘Forget it, I am going to Ohio State’,” Tressel said.
“But nothing is binding until you sign a letter,” he said. “I’ve even learned a new phrase these last three weeks called ‘soft commitments’. You’re either committed or your not in my mind.”
So what exactly does OSU do with the recruits when they come to visit?
According to Tressel, the process isn’t as extravagant as we might think. “The NCAA has strict guidelines, and there are a zillion rules as to what we are allowed to do,” he said.
Recruits can only visit for 48 hours, they must be housed in what is considered ‘normal housing’, they can only be taken out to eat a certain number of times, and they can only attend university-sponsored events.
“I remember when Stanford hosted the Super Bowl maybe 10 years ago, and it happened to be on a recruiting weekend, Stanford could not take their recruits on campus into the Stanford stadium to watch the Super Bowl because that was not a university function,” Tressel said.
In addition to the entertainment aspect of the visit, the recruit also has to attend a number of meetings.
“The most important part of the visit is their academic appointments with the folks at the Younkin Center. They also meet with the faculty in the area that they are interested in studying, with the position coach and with the strength coach.”
“The key to recruiting though, isn’t the coaches and it really isn’t the university. It is what goes on when they meet with our current players; Are our current players the kind of people that they want to be with? Are the current players happy with the way that they are treated? Are they happy with their faculty members? Are they happy with their living conditions? Are they happy with their social life?”
“Inevitably it’s the current players that make the difference and I thought our current guys did a good job here in the last three weeks,” he said.
Tressel said one of his favorite parts of the job is meeting with the recruits’ families.
“They want to get a gut level feeling as to, can we be trusted, and, will we take good care of their child,” he said. “Then the other thing they want to know is, ‘How many times is my son going to get the ball’ and, ‘Will he be a starter’ and, ‘Can he wear number 27’.”
“You get the whole gamut of things, but it’s fun because when you walk in and you’re from Ohio State there is an immediate respect. You have the ability to either build on that or lose some respect because we are representing Ohio State when we go in there, and if we do a poor job and they chose not to come here then we didn’t do our job.”
Even though national signing day has come and gone, Tressel said he has not finished recruiting. His oldest daughter is a senior in high school and is undecided on what college to attend.
“My two daughters happened to be with me when Lydell Ross visited the campus. So I teased them that they were going to have an official visit the last weekend of recruiting.”
This story is the first part of a three-part series. On Wednesday, Tressel talks academics.
