Tag: jim tressel

Notre Dame fans have a reason to thank Jim Tressel

Notre Dame fans need to thank Jim Tressel #GoBucks

Everyone remembers Jim Tressel from his coaching tenure at Ohio State from 2001 through 2010, and no one debates that the national-championship- winning coach is one of the best to ever put on a headset. Now he is tossing his hat into the podcasting ring.

On a recent episode of his newest podcast titled, “Its All About the Team,” Tressel had on former Buckeye linebacker and current Notre Dame head coach, Marcus Freeman. During the episode, they discuss Freeman’s coaching journey and an interesting tidbit was brought up in regard to a key decision that he was mulling over.

In 2020 Freeman was viewed as a hot up and coming defensive coordinator after dominating with Cincinnati for four seasons. He was offered coordinator positions at both LSU and Notre Dame. The two discussed how Tressel nudged Freeman into taking the gig in South Bend and the rest is history.

So yeah, Fighting Irish fans, you can send those thank you letters to the Tressel household.

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Josh Keatley on X.

Watch: Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman joins his former coach Jim Tressel’s podcast

A must listen

Ohio will always have special place in Notre Dame head coach [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag]’s heart.

Having starred at Ohio State as a two-time All-Big Ten second teamer, to getting his first coaching job at his alma mater, and then his first solo full-time coordinating job at Cincinnati, his home state has been good to him.

So has his former head coach [autotag]Jim Tressel[/autotag], who has been seen multiple times on the Irish sidelines cheering on his former player. It should come as no surprise that Freeman joined him on his podcast, “It’s All About The Team!”

The Irish’s leader discussed how his parents helped him get where he is now, Tressel and then linebackers coach and current Wisconsin head coach [autotag]Luke Fickell[/autotag] helping him, his playing career and much more.

It is a great listen into Freeman’s journey to where he is now, and a must watch for Irish fans.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen

Jim Tressel joins Baldwin Wallace Board of Directors

Another role in retirement? #GoBucks

Talk to anyone in Buckeye Nation and the adulation for former Ohio State football head coach Jim Tressel is almost unanimous. He may have made some mistakes trying to look out for and protect the kids he coached, getting in NCAA hotwater, but there’s no denying his care and love for young people.

He led the Buckeyes to a national title in 2002 and had several teams that could have won another, then went on to be the President of Youngstown State, a place he is also adored for winning national championships.

That season of his life ended earlier this year when he retired and reportedly moved to Florida, but it seems he can’t stay out of the ability to impact others. In fact, Tressel has now joined the Board of Directors at Baldwin Wallace University, a place where he played quarterback while attending the school from 1971-1974, eventually graduating in 1975.

There’s no doubt Tressel’s experience as the President of a university will be invaluable in this new part-time role as he continues to give back.

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.

Urban Meyer believes Ohio State football’s roster is absolutely loaded

Title or bust? #GoBucks

Former Ohio State football head coach [autotag]Urban Meyer[/autotag] still keeps a close eye on the Buckeyes, and obviously he knows the game very well.

The thre-time national championship-winning coach has seen what a title contending group looks like, and he thinks that the 2024 Buckeyes fall into that category.

When Adam King asked him about how he feels about this year’s team, Meyer gave a glowing response. He said that “this is one of the most talented rosters in the last decade, maybe ever.”

That’s a pretty big statement from Meyer, especially considering the Ohio State offense has yet to name a starter at quarterback, is extremely young at wide receiver, and still has questions on the offensive line.

We will take Meyer’s word on this, especially since another championship- winning Buckeye coach, [autotag]Jim Tressel[/autotag] agreed with him.

Contact/Follow @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Michael Chen on X. 

Former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel launches new podcast

Jim Tressel launches new podcast #GoBucks

Jim Tressel is one of the most beloved college football coaches in Ohio State football history. One of the reasons for the sentiment is due to his ability to motivate, and when Coach Tressel speaks, people want to listen, which is why him having a podcast is a great idea.

The name of the new podcast is “It’s All About the Team” and as expected based on the title, is focused on teamwork and everything surrounding the topic. This isn’t just a football podcast, the idea of teamwork and his discussions are applicable to everyday settings and situations.

Now the main focus of the podcast is not about football, but that doesn’t mean football won’t play a role as evidenced by his future guest, former Ohio State All-American, A.J. Hawk. The Hawk episode hasn’t been released yet, but the first episode featuring leadership expert, John Maxwell, has dropped on the YouTube channel today.

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Josh Keatley on X.

Watch: Former Ohio State legend Jim Tressel addresses team during spring practice

The sweater vest was about in the WHAC

This Saturday Ohio State football held a scrimmage and hosted a very special guest, former Buckeyes head coach [autotag]Jim Tressel[/autotag].

The championship winning, now retired athletic director wasn’t just there to watch the action. Tressel got a chance to address the team once again, as he wore his classic outfit, the sweater vest.

Unfortunately the clip that was shared by the Ohio State football official social media account was extremely short, but it was still great to see JT back on the sidelines in Columbus.

Check out the clip below, as Tressel reminisced about his accomplishment that still adorn the hallways of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

Contact/Follow @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Michael Chen on X. 

See former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel’s custom sweater vest

Great to see “The Senator” roaming the Ohio State sidelines once again #GoBucks

It was a homecoming of sorts for [autotag]Jim Tressel[/autotag] and the [autotag]Ohio State football[/autotag] team.

The national-championship-winning former Buckeye head coach is also the former president of [autotag]Youngstown State,[/autotag] and with the Penguins traveling to Columbus to face Tressel’s former team, he had to do something special.

On of his nicknames was “The Sweater Vest,” and Tressel did not disappoint on Saturday with his attire. He wore a custom Ohio State and Youngstown State version of his classic look, still showing that he still has love for the Buckeyes.

If you ask me, Tressel should have been named the next president over [autotag]Walter Carter Jr.[/autotag], but that is now a moot point. Regardless, the Sweater vest was once again roaming the Ohio State sidelines and it was great to see.

Here’s another look at it.

USA TODAY Sports

[lawrence-auto-related count=5]

Contact/Follow @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Michael Chen on X.

Jim Tressel sensed something was off prior to the 2006 BCS National Championship game

This makes a little more sense for those that can remember. #GoBucks

It has been a long time since the Ohio State football program was bludgeoned in the desert in January 2007. That Buckeye team was ranked No. 1 all season and steamrolled through the regular season. It finished with an epic 42-39 victory over Michigan in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup that seemed the prelude to a national title.

It wasn’t meant to be though. A long layoff, a very hungry Florida squad coached by Urban Meyer, and maybe a little complacency led to a Gators romp, 41-14.

Take nothing away from Florida because it was the far better team that night, but that Ohio State team looked like a shell of the one we saw during the season. We’ve received some tidbits from former head coach Jim Tressel before on that game, but we gained a little more from him thanks to the “More than Coach Speak” podcast that dropped this past week.

According to Tressel, it’s the one game that has stuck with him over the years. In fact, he sensed the team wasn’t quite in the right mindset.

“Probably the one that I think about that I knew where we were heading and I couldn’t get us turned around was 2006,” Tressel said. “We were undefeated and we had beaten Michigan, who was No. 2, and it was a big game, we were ranked one and two. And all of a sudden going into the championship game, you could just see our guys were on their phones with their agents, it was an older team, couldn’t get their attention. You could see they weren’t training like we normally trained, and we talked to them about it. That was one of the lowlights of – gosh, how could we have gotten through to them?”

According to “The Senator,” his staff went back and forth on how to handle what they were seeing and feeling but felt the team was veteran enough and had shown enough during the season to not disrupt things too much. The one thing they implemented was to travel to Phoenix a few days earlier to try and get the team refocused, but not much else.

“As a staff, we were talking about, we were kind of vacillating back and forth that, well we don’t want to be brow-beating too bad and hit them over the head, ‘Practice 10 times harder.’ Because this team had just done a great job. They had done everything we asked them to do,” Tressel said. “They won every game. They trained like we wanted them to train. And so we probably erred on the side of thinking you know what, they’re mature enough. As it gets closer, we’ll get more tuned in.

“In fact, we went out three or four days earlier than we normally went because we were sensing we need to get this thing turned around. So I think maybe somehow getting them to address it to each other,” continued Tressel. “I’ve always found that if the players tell each other how they should be thinking — it can be even more effective than the staff doing it.”

Sometimes as a coach, there are strings to pull and it’s hard to figure out which ones get pulled at the right time and the right direction. It ultimately wasn’t enough against an SEC team that felt disrespected and underappreciated, and it showed.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5]

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on Twitter.

Deja vu: Former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel says ‘Buckeyes will make us proud in Ann Arbor’

Sound familiar? #GoBucks

Now where have we heard this before?

When former Ohio State football head coach Jim Tressel was hired as the Buckeyes’ new head coach after John Cooper was fired back in 2001, he was introduced in front of a Michigan vs. OSU basketball crowd at home where he uttered some famous words to Buckeye Nation.

“I can assure you that you will be proud of your young people in the classroom, in the community, and most especially — in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan.”

That phrase ended up being quite prophetic because Ohio State went on to upset the Wolverines in Ann Arbor that year, then went on to turn around the narrative and culture of the rivalry, one that OSU owned for nearly two decades. It was the precursor to a national title following the 2002 season.

Now, it seems, Tressel is at it again, and his words have a familiar ring to them, one that’s music to those with scarlet and gray pajamas. While appearing at a celebrity dinner to benefit the Historic South Initiative, Tressel was asked about “The Game” and the Buckeyes’ chances in Ann Arbor this fall by David Briggs of the Toledo Blade (subscription may be required).

“There’s no question,” Tressel responded, “that I think the Buckeyes will make us proud in Ann Arbor.”

Will history repeat itself? Let’s hope so. Ohio State isn’t nearly in the spot it was back in 2001 and was still arguably more talented than the last two Michigan teams. However, there clearly needs to an injection of confidence and execution that hasn’t been there the last two times out. Could Tressel’s words be a sign of things to come again?

I guess we’ll find out in 190 days …

[lawrence-auto-related count=5]

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on Twitter.

Jim Tressel provides thoughts on job Ryan Day is doing with Ohio State

What does Tressel think of Ryan Day? #GoBucks

The head coach of a big-time football program is a select fraternity. Being the head man at a program such as Ohio State is also a job like few others in the country: Expectations are to the moon and back. It’s a fishbowl where you have to beat Michigan, make a run for the College Football Playoff national championship — and, oh yeah — beat teams you are supposed to handle easily by a margin wider than the Grand Canyon.

So far, there is a large population of Ohio State football fans that aren’t feeling the vibes of the [autotag]Ryan Day[/autotag] era. Two straight losses to Michigan that include being eliminated from a shot at a Big Ten title whip the armchair quarterbacks into a frenzy.

Couple that with no national titles and there’s no offset to make the restless scarlet and gray natives happy. Even coming so achingly close to knocking off Georgia in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl didn’t seem to quiet the doubters despite Day holding a 45-6 record as head coach in Columbus.

Again, lofty expectations.

But someone in the Buckeye coaching fraternity has come out in support of Day: beloved former OSU coach [autotag]Jim Tressel[/autotag].

If anyone is qualified to speak on how an Ohio State head coach is doing, it’s the sweater-vested senator himself. He turned the tide in the Michigan rivalry by losing just once in 10 tries against the evil empire, brought home a national championship in 2002 by beating the “unbeatable” Miami Hurricanes, won the Big Ten seven times and made a national championship game appearance three times. He had a 106-22 overall record.

So yeah, Tressel has the authority to speak on what kind of job Day is doing on the banks of the Olentangy.

While speaking to the Hall of Fame Luncheon Club in Canton, Ohio on Monday, Tressel touched on the job he thinks Day is doing, and where he believes the program is headed under his watch.

“I’m a Ryan Day fan,” Tressel said, according to a story from cantonrep.com. “I think he’s got something about him.”

Tressel didn’t stop there and said that the program will be just fine heading into the future. He even spoke about the emerging utilization of the transfer portal and name, image and likeness (NIL), something Day and staff haven’t necessarily figured out just yet (welcome to the club).

“The people who spend a lot of time whining about (transfer portal and NIL) aren’t going to progress,” Tressel said. “The people who try to figure out how to do it well are going to be much ahead.

“I think Ryan Day is going to navigate this. Sure, he’s going to lose some players, and, sure, there’s going to be a player or two who comes to him. He’s never going to be a guy who runs all over the place and has 19 roster changes. He’s going to recruit well and build within.”

Only time and results will tell whether Tressel’s opinion of the program under Day is right, at least in the eyes of those that plan their weekends around the television watching Ohio State football in the fall.

First things first, Day needs to beat back the colors of maize and blue this November. Then things will begin to fall in place — unless, of course, the Buckeyes lose to Notre Dame, Wisconsin or Penn State along the way.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz0qtnjg5x7tc8 player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

[listicle id=72167]

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on Twitter.

Let us know your thoughts, and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.