When Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel gave his famous “310 days ’til Michigan” speech at an OSU basketball game in January 2001, many people in the Columbus area were impressed with the new leader of the Buckeyes – none more so than Tom Campbell.

A few weeks after the speech, Campbell, a 1999 OSU graduate in communications, put on a suit and tie, grabbed his degree and knocked on the door of Tressel’s office.

“I asked him for a job position doing anything he had available,” Campbell said. “I have a passion for football and I thought, ‘This is the guy who’s going to give me a shot.’ “

Tressel gave him that shot. Now, as the assistant football video coordinator, Campbell edits video footage of football practices, scrimmages and games. He works close to 100 hours a week during football season, but wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I love what I do, and I feel like I have achieved my dream,” Campbell said. “If I am 65 years old and still working here, I’ll be just fine with that.”

After a job as a video journalist for CNN fell through, Campbell spent a year and a half deciding what he wanted to do – until that fateful day when he gathered up the courage to speak to the new boss of OSU football.

Campbell now works in a small office filled with video equipment and tapes at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. There he puts in long hours editing images of the OSU defense and special teams. His edited tapes are then reviewed by both coaches and players, who are appreciative of his efforts.

“Tom is an integral part of our staff, creating video study-tapes for our players and coaches as they prepare each week for our opponent, and in the off-season as we study ourselves,” Tressel said. “Tom is at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center night and day. No one on our staff out-works him.”

“Watching tapes is one of the most basic learning tools in football,” said Darrion Scott, senior defensive end. Scott said watching video of himself helps him to make necessary adjustments in his game. Scott also said Campbell is more than just a video coordinator.

“He’s as much a part of the football family as the players and coaches are,” he said. “We mess with him a lot, but he’s a pretty tough guy. And if you’re having a bad day, Tom’s going to crack a joke and make it better.”

Special teams coach Luke Fickle agrees with Scott.

“The guys all love him,” he said. “He takes all the harassment and dishes it back out.”

Growing up in Upper Arlington, the humble, good-humored Campbell was raised on Buckeye football.

“I think he inherited his love of sports from his father,” said Susan Campbell, Tom’s mother. “Only he’s got it worse.”

“I’ve skipped weddings, funerals, everything for Buckeye football,” he said. Campbell enjoys OSU football so much that he volunteered at his position for a little over a year before he was officially hired.

Campbell, who was born with cerebral palsy, said because he cannot play football, he has transferred his love of the game into his job.

“I figure this is the next best thing to playing,” he said. He also said he is grateful to the players and coaching staff for not treating him differently because of his disability.

“I’ve never felt like a charity case, and I credit Coach Tressel for that,” he said. “He went out of his way to hire great people. They would give their left arm for any member of the football family.”

Campbell said this idea of the team as a family is the main reason why the Buckeyes won the national championship. His favorite moment of his job was watching the Buckeyes win the national title.

His contract does not include traveling with the team to away games. After news that the Buckeyes were on their way to Tempe, Campbell once again gathered the courage to approach Tressel with a special request.

“I told him I understood if I couldn’t go, but I hoped he would say there was some way we could manage it,” Campbell said.

Tressel agreed to bring Campbell along and even arranged handicapped access and transportation to Tempe.

“It was so great not working for one game and just experiencing it all,” Campbell said. “It was such a phenomenal experience and by far the greatest game I’ve ever seen.”

Tressel said Campbell’s video work contributed to the success of the big game.

“Tom prepared us well to advance to the championship game, and then ultimately win it,” he said.

Campbell credits his knowledge of the job to his former boss Steve Hicks, who is now assistant video coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, and his current boss Mark Quisenberry, video coordinator for OSU football.

“They have taught me everything I know,” he said.

Campbell said he appreciates everything Tressel has done for him and for giving him his dream job.

“Tressel is the real deal – purely genuine,” Campbell said. “I look at him and hope that I can be as good a person as he is.”

Many of the coaches and players said Campbell already is that great an individual.