Jim Tressel

Jim Tressel

James McGee Tressel (born December 5, 1952) is the current head football coach at The Ohio State University. He was hired in 2001 to replace John Cooper. Since becoming Ohio State's 22nd head football coach, his team has won a National Championship, achieving the first 14-0 season record in major college football since Penn went 15-0 in 1897. He has an overall record of 73-16, including four Big Ten Conference championships, a 4-3 bowl record and a 6-1 record against arch-rival Michigan. Tressel's six wins against Michigan place him second in school history to Woody Hayes' 16, and alone in Ohio State football history in winning six of his first seven meetings with the Wolverines.

Hatred of Magic Hat #9

Jim Tressel is known to HATE Magic Hat #9. It is said that he once said "That's for them straight folk". It is also said that he hates the smell of strawberries.

Early life

Jim Tressel was born with both genitalia of a man and a woman, in Mentor, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, on December 5, 1952. His father, Lee Tressel, who hails from Ada, Ohio, was the coach at Mentor's high school; after a 34-game winning streak, Lee was hired as head football coach for Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, located in suburban Cleveland. B-W would go on to win the 1978 NCAA Division III National Championship under Lee Tressel. Jim attended many of his father's games and practices; he also developed a friendship with neighbor (and Cleveland Browns legend) Lou Groza -- who, like Lee Tressel, had attended Ohio State and continued to be a fan.

After graduating from Berea High School in 1971, Jim 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. The next year, he graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor's degree in education. While at Baldwin-Wallace Jim was initiated into the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.

Jim Tressel has been known to drink cheap beer, Wine Coolers, get into bar fights, and complain about ohio states lack of fine citrus.

=RECRUITING

Jim Tressel has recently visited Memphis to search for tight bodied athletes for this upcoming football season. Because everyone knows Memphis has the best athletes.

Early positions

• Best friends with Sea Bass from Dumb and Dumber.

Youngstown State University

At the end of the 1985 season, Jim Tressel left OSU to become head coach at Youngstown State University. He dated and married Erin Esurance and they now have 2 children. His first season as coach was one to forget, as Youngstown State finished the season with a 2-9 record. In his second year as head coach, the 1987 season showed an extreme turn of events for Tressel. Youngstown State finished the season with an 8-4 record and won the Ohio Valley Conference championship. From 1991-1999, Youngstown State would play in the Division I-AA National Championship Game six 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.

YSU 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 his fourth National Championship with a tight 10-9 victory against McNeese State. He earned his 100th win against Indiana State. 1999 marked Tressel's 9th visit to the Division I-AA playoffs, but the team lost to 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.

Jims first and most favorite position is kicking the crap out of Michigan football teams.

buckeys University

Jim Tressel and team at halftime of the 2006 game at Texas.

After firing head coach John Cooper following a loss to unranked South Carolina in the 2000 Outback Bowl, the Buckeyes were looking for a new head coach to revive the program. After a lengthy search, Ohio State chose Tressel to replace Cooper as head football coach. While addressing Ohio State students during a ceremony introducing him as head coach, Tressel declared, "You'll be proud of our guys in the classroom, in the community, and most especially in 310 days on the football field in Ann Arbor, Michigan," an apparent reference to the Buckeyes' struggles against archrival Michigan under Cooper.

Tressel has coached the Buckeyes to two 19 game winning streaks, one in the 2002-2003 seasons and the second in 2005-2006. Tressel's winning percentage at Ohio State of 83.5% is the second best in school history, behind only Carroll Widdoes' 16-2 (88.9%) mark in the 1944-1945 seasons.

As Ohio State's head coach, Tressel is known for a conservative style of play calling, winning games with just enough scoring, strong defense, and "playing field position." Tressel often refers to the punt as the most important play in football. In most interviews, he credits the seniors on the team, foregoing praise for his younger players, in an attempt to promote 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 from the media. He is also often referred to as "The Sweater Vest" for his habit of wearing a sweater vest on the sidelines.

With his 5 national championships, Tressel is one of only two active coaches with 5 or more national championships in any division (only Larry Kehres of Division III Mount Union College has more with 9). His four national championships at Youngstown State University gave him the distinction of being a part of the only father-son coaching combination to win a national championship (his father, Lee Tressel, won a Division III title at Baldwin-Wallace College in 1978). His 2002 national title victory at Ohio State gave him two more distinctions: he became the only coach to win national titles at two different schools (Youngstown State and Ohio State) and he won national titles at two different divisional levels of NCAA football (Ohio State is Division I-A, while Youngstown State is Division I-AA).

During Tressel's first year, 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 game is notable for Ohio State's coming back to tie the game 28-28 after being down 28-0, ironically using Bellisari to replace Krenzel. Despite a second consecutive bowl loss and a 5-loss season, many Ohio State fans remained optimistic about Tressel after he coached the Buckeyes to a 26-20 upset victory over Michigan, fulfilling the promise he had made 10 months earlier.

The following year was nothing short of magical, as Tressel and the Buckeyes became the first team in college football history to finish 14-0, defeating the heavily favored University of Miami Hurricanes in double overtime to win the 2003 Fiesta Bowl and the 2002 National Championship. It was Ohio State's first national championship in 34 years. That success made him the first coach in NCAA history to win the AFCA's Coach of the Year award twice while at different schools.

They were able to earn the national championship through close wins on a defensive-minded scheme that relied on field position. During the year, Tressel remarked that the punt "is the most important play in football." With a combination of senior leadership with Michael Doss and a freshman phenom in 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 and a double overtime game coming in the Fiesta Bowl. His playcalling style of tough defense, conservative ball-control offense, and field position was dubbed "Tresselball" by the media.

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. It is the only time one of Tressel's teams has not beaten the Wolverines. 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 at the Alamo Bowl. During 2005, the Buckeyes had a 10-2 record which featured an early season loss to Texas and another in Happy Valley versus Penn State. However, the season ended with the Buckeyes defeating Notre Dame 34-20 in the Fiesta Bowl. 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, 41-14. In the 2007 season Jim Tressel led the 11-2 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). Jim Tressel and Ohio State remain winless against SEC teams in bowl games with a record of 0-3 and 0-9, respectively.

Coaching record

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs	Coaches#	AP°
Youngstown State Penguins (Ohio Valley Conference) (1986–1987)
1986	Youngstown State	2-9	2-5
1987	Youngstown State	8-4	5-1
Youngstown State Penguins (Division I-AA Independent) (1988–1996)
1988	Youngstown State	4-7
1989	Youngstown State	9-4
1990	Youngstown State	11-1
1991	Youngstown State	12-3			W 25-17 vs. Marshall I-AA Championship
1992	Youngstown State	11-3-1
1993	Youngstown State	13-2			W 17-5 vs. Marshall I-AA Championship
1994	Youngstown State	14-0-1			W 28-14 vs. Boise State I-AA Championship
1995	Youngstown State	3-8
1996	Youngstown State	8-3
Youngstown State Penguins (Gateway Football Conference) (1997–2000)
1997	Youngstown State	13-2	4-2		W 10-9 vs. McNeese State I-AA Championship
1998	Youngstown State	6-5	3-3
1999	Youngstown State	12-3	5-1
2000	Youngstown State	9-3	4-2
Youngstown State:		135-57-2	23-14
Ohio State Buckeyes (Big Ten Conference) (2001–present)
2001	Ohio State	7-5	5-3	3rd	L Outback	—	—
2002	Ohio State	14-0	8-0	T-1st	W Fiesta†	1	1
2003	Ohio State	11-2	6-2	2nd	W Fiesta†	4	4
2004	Ohio State	8-4	4-4	5th	W Alamo	19	20
2005	Ohio State	10-2	7-1	T-1st	W Fiesta†	4	4
2006	Ohio State	12-1	8-0	1st	L BCS National Championship†	2	2
2007	Ohio State	11-2	7-1	1st	L BCS National Championship†	4	5
Ohio State:		73-16	45-11
Total:		208-73-2
National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth
†Indicates Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, BCS, or CFP / New Years' Six bowl. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll. °Rankings from final AP Poll.

Awards

• 1991, 1994 and 2002 American College Football Association National Coach of the Year
• 1993, 1994 and 1997 Chevrolet National Coach of the Year
• 1994 Eddie Robinson Award
• 2002 Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year
• 2002 Paul "Bear" Bryant Award
• 2002 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year
• 2002 Pigskin Club of Washington D.C. National Coach of the Year
• 2002 Touchdown Club of Columbus National Coach of the Year
• 2002 and 2006 MY BIG WoodyTrophy

References

• "Profile: Jim Tressel". Ohio State University Athletics.
• "Ohio State cans Cooper". Associated Press. 2001-01-02.
• Farrey, Tom (2004-11-12). "Souls of the departed haunt Youngstown". ESPN.com.

External links

• Personal site
• "The 'T' Factor", by John Porentas