As Jim Tressel strolled to the podium, everyone sitting at one of the white-cloth tables rose to their feet.
Tressel cracked a pair of jokes to begin his Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame induction speech. He then offered the real reason behind his attendance on that Friday night last September.
“Those 10 teams that we were a part of certainly deserve this moment,” Tressel said. “All of us, who are in coaching, know that if you happen to be singled out in a Hall of Fame-type situation, that you know it’s not about you. It’s about the teams that you had the good fortune to be a part of.”
Tressel’s 10 Ohio State teams were routinely elite. The Buckeyes appeared in a BCS bowl game in eight of his 10 years. They captured the Big Ten title in seven of his 10 years. Tressel posted a 94-22 record at Ohio State, though that mark would be 106-22 if not for the school vacating 12 victories from the 2010 season.
That season was Tressel’s last in Columbus. The coach and the university parted ways in May 2011, following six months of questions about tattoos, suspensions and half-truths.
Tressel, now the president at Youngstown State, has not coached since. He spent part of the 2011 season with the Indianapolis Colts as a game day replay consultant. He then became an administrator at the University of Akron.
His name seemingly pops up every year amid discussions for coaching vacancies.
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