Athletes - Jim Tressel

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	Athletes - Jim Tressel

James Patrick Tressel (born December 9, 1952) is the current head coach of The Ohio State University football team. He was hired as head coach in 2001 and since then has won a National Championship, made the first 14-0 season record in College Football history, and as of the conclusion of the 2005 regular season, has garnered an overall record of 50-13 at Ohio State. His 19-game 2002-2003 winning streak was the second longest in Ohio State school history.

His national championships at Youngstown State University gave him the distinction of being the only father-son coaching combination to win a national championship coach (his father Lee Tressel won a Division III title at Baldwin-Wallace College in 1978). His 2002 national title win at Ohio State gave him two more distinctions: the only coach to win at least one national title at two different schools (Youngstown State and Ohio State) and at least one National Title at two different divisional levels of NCAA football (Ohio State is Division I-A, while Youngstown State is Division I-AA).

As head coach, Tressel is known for his conservative style of play calling and his views on winning games with just enough scoring, strong defenses and "playing field position". In most interviews he credits the seniors on the team, foregoing praise for younger players in ongoing strategy of promoting those who have dedicated themselves to The Ohio State University football program for a number of years. He is sometimes referred to as "The Senator," (Most notably by ESPN's Chris Fowler.) because of his composure on the sidelines during play, and his diplomatic way of interacting with representatives of television and print media.

Early life

Jim Tressel was born in Mentor, Ohio on December 9, 1952. His father, Lee Tressel, who hails from Ada, Ohio, was the coach at a local high school and after a 34-game winning streak was hired as head coach for the Baldwin-Wallace College football team. He would go on to win the 1978 NCAA Division III National Championship. Jim attended many of his father's games and practices, and after graduating from Berea High School in 1971 he played as quarterback under his father at Baldwin-Wallace. As quarterback, he earned four letters and won all-conference honors as a senior in 1974. The next year, he graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor's degree in education.

Early Coaching Career

After graduating from Baldwin-Wallace, Tressel became Graduate Assistant at the University of Akron. He worked there coaching the quarterbacks, receivers, and running backs and earned his Masters in education while he was doing so. In 1978, he left to become quarterback and receiver coach at Miami University, and by 1981 he had left to become the quarterback coach at Syracuse. In 1983 he returned to Ohio and became Quarterback and Receiver Coach at Ohio State. That year, OSU had a 9-3 record and defeated Pittsburgh at the Fiesta Bowl with a 39-yard pass made by his quarterback and receiver with half a minute left in the game. In 1984 he was given the added responsibility of coaching the running backs. That year, the team became Big Ten champs, played in the Rose Bowl, and one of Tressel's players, tailback Keith Byars, finished second in Heisman voting. In 1985, OSU defeated BYU in the Citrus Bowl.

Head Coach at Youngstown State

At the end of the 1985 season, Jim Tressel left OSU to become Head Coach for Youngstown State University. His first season as coach flopped and Youngstown State finished the season with a 2-9 record. But the 1987 season showed an extreme turn in events. Youngstown finished the season with an 8-4 record and won the Ohio Valley Conference championship. From 1989-1994, Youngstown state would play in the Division I-AA National Championship game four times. In 1991, Tressel won his first National Championship by deafeating Marshall, making him and his father the only father-son duo to win National Championships in College Football. Youngstown won two more National Championships in the following three years: against Marshall in 1993 (who had defeated them in 1992) and Boise State in 1994. 1997 brought Tressel's fourth National Championship with a tight 10-9 victory against McNeese State and gave him his 100th win, against Indiana. 1999 marked Tressel's 9th visit to the Division I-AA playoffs, but the team lost to Georgia Southern in the finals. The new millennium went well, and Tressel led Youngstown to a 9-3 season and its 10th finals game. 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 Division I-A and Division I-AA combined. Tressel's overall record at Youngstown was 135-57-2.

Head Coach at OSU

After head coach John Cooper lost to unranked South Carolina at the end of the 2000 season, (a team that had an 0-11 record the previous year), the Buckeyes were looking for a new coach to revive the program. Tressel quickly made his first job change in 15 years by replacing Cooper at Ohio State.

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Athletes - Jim Tressel

Early life

Early Coaching Career

Head Coach at Youngstown State

Head Coach at OSU

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