When Jim Tressel took the Ohio State head football coaching position in 2001 he promised fans, players and the community new hopes. He backed those hopes up with the success he has had in the past three seasons.
Last year Tressel led Ohio State to a perfect 14-0 season and a national championship. Ranked No. 4 in the nation right now, a win over the Michigan Wolverines could secure another trip to the national championship game.
Tressel’s first stop with the Buckeyes was as an assistant coach under Earle Bruce in 1983-85. Youngstown State is where Tressel spent most of his years leading a Division 1-AA football team to four national championships and 166 victories.
Coming back to OSU after a 16-year lapse, Tressel was able to do something his predecessor, John Cooper, had not – beat the Wolverines. Since his tenure as head coach Tressel has a 2-0 record against Lloyd Carr.
The last time Tressel took the field across from Carr and the Wolverines, he was in his home field and sitting with no losses. Everything came down to the final play of the game with Michigan threatening to top OSU.
The score was 14-9 in the Buckeyes’ favor when Wolverine quarterback John Navarre threw his final pass of the game. The ball was intercepted by OSU’s Will Allen at the goal line, allowing Tressel to join his troops on the field in celebration.
Tressel now holds 31-6 overall and 19-4 Big Ten records at the helm of the Buckeyes. He is known for running competition close and pulling it out in the end. In games won by a touchdown or less OSU has a 14-5 record under Tressel.
Coaching seems to be in the Tressel family genes. The OSU coach followed his father’s footsteps as has his brother Dick Tressel and nephew Mike Tressel. The late Lee Tressel coached at Baldwin-Wallace college. After coaching at Hamline University, Dick Tressel came on as a member of the OSU football operations staff. Mike Tressel, Dick’s son, works as a graduate assistant for the team.
