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Calm in the storm
Ellen Tressel: OSU coach tackles life with level head
By Doug Harris
Dayton Daily News
COLUMBUS | The 51-year-old Jim Tressel doesn't think his career at Ohio State will end with a retirement party and a gold watch.
He's familiar enough with OSU history to know few football coaches turn in their whistles voluntarily. The three who preceded him — Woody Hayes, Earle Bruce and John Cooper — all were fired despite winning more than 70 percent of their games. And Tressel often reminds his wife that the same fate is awaiting him.
"He'll coach until he gets fired — that's what he tells me," Ellen Tressel said. "He tells me everyone gets fired at Ohio State, so his time is coming.
"He just says, 'Hey, it's going to happen.' But even though you try to be prepared, you wont be."
Tressel will begin his fourth season against visiting Cincinnati on Saturday with a winning percentage of .821 — the best mark at OSU for any coach with more than two years on the job. He upset Michigan in his first season, won a national title in his second and captured another BCS bowl in his third.
The notion that the school would cut ties with him seems inconceivable, of course. But while he is revered today, he knows a couple of subpar seasons could change that.
No OSU coach ever escapes the hot seat entirely. But in Tressel's case, there's one thing folks probably can count on: No matter how hot it gets, he's never going to lose his cool. In a sport that seems to breed tightly wound coaches, OSU players are astonished at Tressel's ability to maintain his composure.
Some coaches break chalkboards to make a point. Tressel is more interested in breaking stereotypes.
"Just because football is an intense sport, it doesn't mean you have to be an intense coach," senior running back Lydell Ross said. "He keeps his calm. And I think that's why we're so successful."
Thinking ahead
The media spotlight at OSU can be suffocating, and Tressel faced intense scrutiny during the Maurice Clarett saga and an academic investigation launched after a scathing New York Times article last year. He endured every grilling without getting ruffled.
"He's always been like that," Ellen Tressel said. "People ask me all the time, 'Is he really like that at home?' And he is. He's a very even-tempered guy, very calm and very reasonable in his assessment of everything."
Tressel, who won four Division I-AA national crowns in 15 seasons at Youngstown State, said his self-control is rooted in pragmatism.
"No matter what happens, there's always things you need to respond to, react to, prepare for, fix or adjust," he said. "I suppose, just like in a game, I don't spend a whole bunch of time reacting because I'm thinking, 'They're not going to call that back. They're not going to put their flag in their pocket, so what's the down and distance?'
"When something comes up that isn't so great, it's not going to go away. So, my thought turns to, 'What can we do to respond to it?' "
Tressel's father, Lee, won a Division III national title at Baldwin-Wallace in 1978 — three years before succumbing to cancer at age 56 — and his coaching style was even less demonstrative than that of his son.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Lee Tressel managed to get results while seldom ripping his team. Jim Tressel, who played quarterback for his father, never forgot that lesson.
"I think you'll get across to today's kids better the less you raise your voice," he said.
But off-the-field troubles have escalated across the board since Lee Tressel's days, and the Buckeyes have had more than their share of incidents. At least a dozen players have been arrested since Tressel arrived, and the cumulative effect has worn on him.
"They're very hard," Ellen Tressel said. "He takes it very personal when things like that happen. They really do spend a lot of time with kids and reinforce, 'Don't misbehave and remember who you are.' But as hard as you try to get them going down the right path, they're not all going to do that.
"He worries because it does reflect poorly. But the thing I remind him of is that there's 110 of them, and there are less than half a dozen giving your program a bad name. Let's talk about those positive aspects and say, 'Hey, it's worked over here.' "
Relaxing at home
During tough times, Tressel leans on his Christian faith, finding strength in a bracelet he wears bearing the initials "WWJD," which stand for What Would Jesus Do?
"Some people say they are a certain thing," he said, "but I guess I like this bracelet because, in my case, I don't want to just say I'm a Christian. I want to remind myself to be Christ-like."
The pace for an OSU football coach can be unrelenting, especially for a state icon. Aside from his duties with the team and the demands of recruiting, he's expected to make numerous public appearances. There is hardly a Rotary club in Ohio that he hasn't visited.
Even when he takes time off, there's little refuge.
"There really aren't too many places we can go even around the United States where he is not recognized," Ellen Tressel said. "It's hard. When we go out to dinner, someone is usually approaching him for an autograph or a picture or to talk to him about a recruit or player."
The Tressels have vacationed in Mexico to escape the crush. But during their time off in July this year, they traveled no farther than their own backyard.
The coach read books, exercised and engaged in one of his few hobbies: woodworking. And when the grass needed to be cut, he hopped on his tractor and mowed their 21?2 acres.
"We have a beautiful home, and he felt he wanted to be by himself," Ellen Tressel said. "He's around people constantly. And sometimes, it's relaxing not to have to talk."
Their Upper Arlington neighbors respected the coach's privacy, but Ellen said, "They're just as thrilled as the next person when they get to see him riding around on his John Deere."
When Cooper was fired after the 2000 season, OSU contacted Tressel but also courted several high-profile coaches, including Oregon's Mike Bellotti and Minnesota's Glen Mason.
Although it was Tressel's dream job, his wife said she never saw his disposition change during the 17-day search. When another candidate was mentioned on the TV news, his reaction was always, "He'd do a good job."
Ellen Tressel marveled at her husband's ability to remain detached.
"He realizes the world is big enough for everybody," she said. "He figured if that's who they went with, then obviously they had good reason to. If it wasn't meant to be, then there would be something else out there for him. And that's how he approaches everything. It's a wonderful trait to have."
And it could be particularly helpful in the future. After all, an OSU coach never knows when he might be looking for work.