Jim Tressel

James Patrick Tressel (born December 5, 1952) is an American college football coach and university administrator who served as president of Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio from 2014 to 2023.

Tressel was born on December 5, 1952, in Mentor, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.

His father, Lee Tressel, was the coach at Mentor's high school.

After a 34-game winning streak at Mentor, Lee was hired at Massillon(Ohio)Washington High then moved on as head football coach for Baldwin–Wallace College in Berea, Ohio.

After graduating from Berea High School in 1971, Tressel 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.

Tressel also joined the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity while attending Baldwin–Wallace.

In 1975, Tressel graduated from Baldwin–Wallace with a bachelor's degree in education.

Tressel and his wife Ellen, a Youngstown State graduate, are actively involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Athletes in Action, the OSU Thompson Libraries and The Ohio State University Medical Center, particularly the James Cancer Center.

Tressel has three children from a prior marriage: Zak, Carlee, and Whitney; Ellen has one, Eric.

He currently lives in the Youngstown area.

Jim's brother, Dick Tressel, served as his running backs coach at Ohio State for seven seasons after serving as the head coach at Hamline University for 23 seasons.

Dick's son, and Jim's nephew, is Mike Tressel, the defensive coordinator at the University of Wisconsin.

After graduating from Baldwin-Wallace, Tressel became a graduate assistant at the University of Akron.

He coached the quarterbacks, receivers, and running backs, while earning a master's degree in education.

Baldwin–Wallace won the 1978 NCAA Division III National Championship under Tressel's father.

Tressel attended many of his father's games and practices, and developed a friendship with neighbor (and former Cleveland Browns player) Lou Groza.

Tressel's mother Eloise Tressel worked as the athletic historian at Baldwin–Wallace while his father was the head coach.

In 1978, he left to become quarterbacks and receivers coach at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

By 1981, he had left to become the quarterbacks coach at Syracuse.

In 1983, he was hired at Ohio State to be the quarterbacks and receivers coach.

That year, OSU had a 9–3 record, including a 28–23 victory over Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl; a 39-yard pass from quarterback Mike Tomczak to wide receiver Thad Jemison clinched the win with 39 seconds remaining 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 tailback Keith Byars finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting.

In 1985, OSU defeated BYU in the Citrus Bowl.

At the end of the 1985 season, Jim Tressel left Ohio State to become head coach at Youngstown State University.

In Tressel's first season as coach, Youngstown State finished with a 2–9 record.

Before becoming an administrator, Tressel was the head football coach of the Youngstown State Penguins and later the Ohio State Buckeyes in a career that spanned from 1986 until 2010.

Tressel's teams earned several national championships during the course of his career, earning him numerous accolades.

Tressel was born in Mentor, Ohio and attended Baldwin–Wallace College, where he played football as quarterback under his father, Lee Tressel.

Tressel succeeded Bill Narduzzi as Youngstown State's fourth head football coach in 1986 and remained there until 2000.

In 2001, he was named John Cooper's successor as the head coach of Ohio State.

During his tenure as Ohio State's 22nd head football coach, Tressel's teams competed in three BCS National Championship Games, and his 2002 squad won a national title, achieving the first 14–0 season record in major college football since 1897 Penn Quakers.

The investigation resulted in OSU self-vacating victories from the 2010 season including the 2011 Sugar Bowl.

Tressel finished his career at Ohio State with an official overall record of 94–22 (.810), including six Big Ten Conference championships, a 5–4 bowl record, a 4–3 mark in BCS bowl games, and an 9–1 record against the arch-rival Michigan Wolverines.

Tressel's eight wins against the University of Michigan place him second in school history to Woody Hayes, who had 16, and he is tied with Urban Meyer as the only Ohio State head coaches to win seven consecutive games against the Wolverines.

Tressel's tenure would, however, come to an abrupt end with his resignation in May 2011 amidst an NCAA investigation into improper benefits violations involving OSU football players during the 2010 season.

From September 2011 until February 2012, Tressel was a consultant for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL).

From 2012 to 2014 Tressel served as Vice President of Strategic Engagement for the University of Akron, before being named as Youngstown State University President on May 9, 2014.

Tressel's success as a head coach led to him being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015.