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Jim Tressel (National Champion, ex-President, Youngstown State University, CFB HOF)

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An Ohio State of Mind

After five years on the job, Tressel still keeping things in house

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By Kyle Lamb
On one of my all-time favorite television series, I loved watching them rebellious Duke boys, Bo and Luke, test and torment sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrain and short, stocky mayor Boss Hogg on the late 1970’s Dukes of Hazzard.
<table class="mar_l" align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="300"> <tbody><tr> <td>
footbal-column-by-jeff-mill.jpg
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>One of the in-state recruiting success stories for OSU coach Jim Tressel; I think you know his name. Photo by jeff mills/UW
</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> The premise of the show centered around two young, free-spirited cousins that were on probation and couldn’t leave the county line. They spend the entire series being chased around the county by the sheriff in their infamous 1969 Dodge Charger, known as the General Lee, while they were chasing around real criminals trying to lend a hand.
The show’s theme song, Good Old Boys, a catchy acoustic tune by Waylon Jennings, may also accurately label the recruiting of Ohio State head football coach Jim Tressel.
“Just two good old boys, wouldn’t change if they could,” the song’s lyrics conclude, “fightin’ the system like two modern day Robin Hoods.”
The sometimes stoic Tressel is such a good old boy that after five years as the head coach of the Buckeyes, he’s still running around the county, or in this case, the Buckeye state, chasing the next big football prospect.
And so far, he’s had very little to stop him.
The 2007 recruiting class is off to a booming start with five in-state prospects already committed to Tressel’s Buckeyes. The nickname is fitting with one of the latest commitments in 5-10 running back Dan “Boom” Herron, a bruising tailback from Warren Harding — yes, that same Warren Harding of Maurice Cla ... I won’t finish that sentence.
Herron and safety Nate Oliver of Lakewood St. Edward are both ranked No. 21 at their position nationally by Scout.com, running back Brandon Saine of Piqua is ranked No. 11, and Ohio State also has commitments from 5-11 cornerback Donnie Evege of Huber Heights Wayne and 5-11 wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher of Toledo Central Catholic.
This has been a trendy theme for Tressel since he got to Ohio State. This past season, Ohio State signed 18 prospects including JUCO linebacker Larry Grant of the College of San Francisco, and 10 of those 18 were from Ohio — a low number compared to year’s past.
Those 10 included USA Today First Team All-American running back Chris Wells, Division VI Player of the Year Ross Homan, a linebacker and Army High School All-American standout defensive end Robert Rose of Cleveland Glenville.
But perhaps more impressive than Tressel’s track record of getting top players from within the state’s boundaries is that he’s not letting too many of them get out of state.
In 2005, the Buckeyes picked up three Top 100 players according to Scout.com from within Ohio, which included massive offensive lineman Alex Boone and Glenville star Jamario O’Neal. They let two go out of state from the Top 100, only one of which they offered a scholarship — Mario Manningham, the receiver from Warren Harding that went to Michigan.
The story was similar in 2004. Ohio State signed Ted Ginn of Glenville and linebacker Marcus Freeman of Huber Heights Wayne, and lost out on Fred Davis, the receiver from Toledo Rogers, to USC.
Davis was a dramatic recruitment where in January he took off to enroll early at USC before pretty much anyone, including his high school coach Rick Rios, even realized he had committed to the Trojans.
Perhaps the biggest losses came in 2003, a year that also saw Ohio State achieve some of its biggest gains. The 2003 recruiting class has eight Ohioans in the top 100 according to Scout.com. Ohio State signed five of the eight.
However, after three years, that recruiting class has not really panned out for anyone.
Of those five Ohio State signed, the Buckeyes have lost Dareus Hiley to academics, Brandon Maupin to a transfer and Louis Irizarry to suspension. Of the three Ohio State missed on — Prescott Burgess and Shawn Crable to Michigan and Brady Quinn to Notre Dame, only Quinn has had a great career, let alone starting consistently.
Burgess, the former Warren Harding teammate of Clarett, publicized for having a high school spat with the former enigmatic running back over a girlfriend, has been a disappointment to many since arriving at Michigan. Crable, a defensive end, has yet to ever find a starting spot with the Wolverines and just finally started seeing the field last season.
This season is expected to be much the same for the Buckeyes. On the state radar is talented defensive end Ben Martin, the No. 8-ranked end by Scout.com, from Cincinnati La Salle. Martin just returned this past weekend from an unofficial visit to Ohio State and for all intents and purposes, is down to Ohio State, Notre Dame and Florida.
The Buckeyes also have interest in Cincinnati Colerain safety Eugene Clifford, Canton South defensive back Devon Torrence, also a standout baseball player and Massillon Washington linebacker Andrew Dailey.
The premise is simple: Tressel has an Ohio State of mind with regards to recruiting.
And it’s working.
What’s more is that when it’s not working, it’s also not working out for the teams that conquer Ohio on rare occasion. Really, in hindsight (which is always 20-20), who frets now over losing Crable, Burgess or Davis?
The good old Tressel boy is too busy riding his General Lee around the state looking for the next Buckeye.
 
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I got this in an email this Morning.


If you are a fan of Ohio State or not, you have to respect the coach!!!


Tressel, again In 1942 Ohio State won the national championship; Paul Brown
was the
coach. Because of WWII the players received no rings, etc. for winning the
national
championship.

This past summer Jim Tressel personally bought rings for all the living
players and one for
each family if the player was dead, for the '42 team.The rings were
identical to the kind the
team got for 2002 except they say 1942.


Sean ______'s neighbor had a father who played then. He is no longer living
so his son got
the ring. Sean said the guy could not talk about it without choking up.


The man is a class act. <!-- toctype = X-unknown --><!-- toctype = text --><!-- text --><!-- END TOC -->
 
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It is kind of obvious what Big 10 coach this writer likes best:
tom_dienhart-s.gif
Tom Dienhart
Handing out trinkets to Big Ten favorites
July 28, 2006


Yeah, yeah ... awards usually are reserved for the postseason. But not in my slice of generic suburban heaven. (No more Applebees or Walgreens! Please!)
I have toy bins filled with junky, plastic trinkets I'm dying to get out of the family room. I stepped on a damn ball-and-cup game my son got in a gift bag at a recent birthday party. This stuff has to go! So, here I go.
The first BCS league to be feted: the Big Ten. Will the following please step forward. Please, please ... grab whatever you want from the bin as you leave the dais. I REALLY appreciate it.
COACHES
Wish I was him: Jim Tressel, Ohio State
Glad I'm not him: John L. Smith, Michigan State
He does the least with the most: Lloyd Carr, Michigan
He does the most with the least: Glen Mason, Minnesota
He does the least with the least: Terry Hoeppner, Indiana
He does the most with the most: Jim Tressel, Ohio State
I'm rooting for this guy to kick butt: Ron Zook, Illinois
Offensive coordinator on the spot: Garrick McGee, Northwestern
Defensive coordinator on the spot: Brock Spack, Purdue
PLAYERS
BMOC: Paul Posluszny, LB, Penn State
Unsung hero: Nick Roach, LB, Northwestern
Best backup quarterback: Justin Zwick, Ohio State
Best offensive player 5-10 or under: Dorien Bryant, WR, Purdue
Best defensive player 5-10 or under: Marquice Cole, CB, Northwestern
Watch him now, because he's turning pro: Ted Ginn, QB, Ohio State
If this guy gets hurt, his team is toast: Anthony Morelli, QB, Penn State
You need a yard, he'll get you two: Tony Hunt, Penn State
TEAMS
They'll be better than advertised: Michigan State
They'll be worse than advertised: Penn State
They'll be as good as advertised: Ohio State
They'll be as bad as advertised: Indiana
Walking the bowl tightrope: Minnesota
GAMES Who's bringing the body bags? Youngstown State at Penn State, Sept. 16
Why on God's green earth are they playing? New Hampshire at Northwestern, Sept. 9
The rumaki and crab puffs can wait, I'm watching this: Ohio State at Iowa, Sept. 30
Plenty of good seats remaining: Temple at Minnesota, Sept. 16
They shoot horses, don't they? Indiana at Ohio State, Oct. 21
Ducat to die for: Ohio State at Texas, Sept. 9
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=112276
 
Upvote 0
ScriptOhio said:
It is kind of obvious what Big 10 coach this writer likes best:
tom_dienhart-s.gif
Tom Dienhart
Handing out trinkets to Big Ten favorites
July 28, 2006


Yeah, yeah ... awards usually are reserved for the postseason. But not in my slice of generic suburban heaven. (No more Applebees or Walgreens! Please!)
I have toy bins filled with junky, plastic trinkets I'm dying to get out of the family room. I stepped on a damn ball-and-cup game my son got in a gift bag at a recent birthday party. This stuff has to go! So, here I go.
The first BCS league to be feted: the Big Ten. Will the following please step forward. Please, please ... grab whatever you want from the bin as you leave the dais. I REALLY appreciate it.
COACHES
Wish I was him: Jim Tressel, Ohio State
Glad I'm not him: John L. Smith, Michigan State
He does the least with the most: Lloyd Carr, Michigan
He does the most with the least: Glen Mason, Minnesota
He does the least with the least: Terry Hoeppner, Indiana
He does the most with the most: Jim Tressel, Ohio State
I'm rooting for this guy to kick butt: Ron Zook, Illinois
Offensive coordinator on the spot: Garrick McGee, Northwestern
Defensive coordinator on the spot: Brock Spack, Purdue
PLAYERS
BMOC: Paul Posluszny, LB, Penn State
Unsung hero: Nick Roach, LB, Northwestern
Best backup quarterback: Justin Zwick, Ohio State
Best offensive player 5-10 or under: Dorien Bryant, WR, Purdue
Best defensive player 5-10 or under: Marquice Cole, CB, Northwestern
Watch him now, because he's turning pro: Ted Ginn, QB, Ohio State
If this guy gets hurt, his team is toast: Anthony Morelli, QB, Penn State
You need a yard, he'll get you two: Tony Hunt, Penn State
TEAMS
They'll be better than advertised: Michigan State
They'll be worse than advertised: Penn State
They'll be as good as advertised: Ohio State
They'll be as bad as advertised: Indiana
Walking the bowl tightrope: Minnesota
GAMES Who's bringing the body bags? Youngstown State at Penn State, Sept. 16
Why on God's green earth are they playing? New Hampshire at Northwestern, Sept. 9
The rumaki and crab puffs can wait, I'm watching this: Ohio State at Iowa, Sept. 30
Plenty of good seats remaining: Temple at Minnesota, Sept. 16
They shoot horses, don't they? Indiana at Ohio State, Oct. 21
Ducat to die for: Ohio State at Texas, Sept. 9
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=112276
Click to expand...

Well. in spite of his recent assessment of ND, I think he really got this one right.


:gobucks3: :osu2: :gobucks4:
 
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Vacation over for Tressel
Tuesday, August 1, 2006 By Todd Porter REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

COLUMBUS - Before Jim Tressel went on vacation earlier this month, a letter arrived in his office from a player on the 1942 national championship team. It included a copy of a letter Paul Brown wrote to the team in the offseason.

It gave the Ohio State head coach a look at the way Brown, then Ohio State’s head coach, handled the team during the offseason.

“The letter ... started off by saying, ‘I want to pen you a letter before I leave for three weeks in Cape Cod,’ ” Tressel said. “It got me to thinking, ‘Boy has time changed.’ You can’t afford to be away from campus for three weeks now at any time. The letter also said he would see them Sept. 8 when they report. The world has changed. We’re not playing nine-game seasons, and the players don’t go home for summer.”

Sure, head coaches are paid well to win, make the university money, fill seats and, yes, handle the stress and work schedules that would make a cardiologist blush.

There isn’t an offseason. Vacation time is little. Getting away is impossible.

“You try to take time off, little snippets here and there to recharge your batteries,” Tressel said. “I don’t know if you every truly get to plug in and recharge all the way.”

During the last three months, Tressel has watched one of his players, Tyson Gentry, lose the ability to walk, Offensive Coordinator Jim Bollman have bypass surgery, quarterback coach Joe Daniels rushed to the hospital with chest pains only to be diagnosed with cancer and the death of Northwestern Head Coach Randy Walker.

“You’re going along thinking you’re getting things in order, and all of a sudden things come out of nowhere,” Tressel said Saturday while spending a day off at the office. “When the thing with (Bollman) happened, first and foremost, I was glad he got it corrected. He’s doing well now, and he’ll be in good shape.”

Walker’s passing certainly will cast a shadow over the Big Ten media days, which begin today in Chicago. He died June 29 at age 52 following a heart attack.

Tressel is 53.

“When Randy passed away, it was a shock beyond belief,” Tressel said. “Joe Daniels ... was unusual. He went in for chest pains, and it turns out he’s fighting cancer.

“This has been the most unusual four months I’ve been through between Joe, Randy, Boles and Tyson.”

Most college coaches take July off. But this year, Tressel has spent the last week or so moving into his new office and getting things situated for a season that will bring high expectations.

“It’s impossible to get everything done that needs to be done for 11 months out of the year,” Tressel said. “You drive yourself hard to do it. ... Recruiting never ends. ... But you try not to get to the office at 6 in the morning and leave at 10 at night.

“In July, I try to kick back around home and not constantly be in the office. When you’re in the office, something will come up. You try to be a little bit out of touch.”

Therapy this month is mowing his own lawn. He did that for the last time Sunday. The rest of the year?

“Ellen (his wife) takes care of it,” Tressel said.

He passed a complete physical in July. With his 54th birthday around the corner, Tressel is mindful of his own health.

His father, a high school coach at Massillon and then Baldwin-Wallace College, died of cancer at age 56.

“His biggest downfall was he was one of those World War II guys who started the habit of smoking and continued it as a coach,” Tressel said. “He would be in there for hours and hours watching film and taking part in the cigarette thing.”

Tressel calls himself a fair exerciser.

“We all think we’re invincible,” he said. “Subconsciously we say, ‘That couldn’t happen to me.’ That’s not true, and we’ve seen it too many times in the last couple months. I do a fair job of making sure I know what’s going on with my body.”

This month, Tressel spent a weekend in a Pennsylvania state park resort, the staff’s Christmas present to him.

“There are Buckeyes everywhere,” Tressel said. “No way can you get away totally. It was a nice, enjoyable time.”

Tressel’s summer usually includes reading. He doesn’t golf. He doesn’t swim. He reads.

Football, though, is never far from his mind.

Slow down?

“You do what you have to do to get the job done,” he said.

Reach Repository sports writer Todd Porter at (330) 580-8340 or e-mail: [email protected]
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http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?Category=17&ID=299751&r=8
 
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Canton

8/11/06

Tressel missed call from Clarett before arrest

Friday, August 11, 2006


<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>[FONT=Verdana, Times New Roman, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]By Todd Porter REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER[/FONT]


COLUMBUS - The phone message sitting on Jim Tressel’s desk didn’t go unnoticed, or unattended. It was Monday when the Ohio State head coach got a call from former player Maurice Clarett.
Tressel returned the call to Clarett’s cell phone and left a message on Clarett’s voice mail. The coach and former player exchanged calls again Tuesday.
They never connected.
Early Wednesday morning, Clarett led police on a chase. He was caught and arrested with four loaded guns, including an AK-47. Clarett was wearing a bullet-proof vest, as well. He reportedly was a block away from the home of a witness who is to testify against Clarett when a separate armed robbery trial begins next week.
Tressel seemed to be beating himself up Thursday when talking about Clarett.
“I didn’t have a chance to get back with him,” Tressel said. “I never had a chance to talk with him.”
Wednesday morning, Tressel’s wife, Ellen, told him of the Clarett news. The coach’s stomach ached.
“You try to return as many calls as you can that are on your desk,” Tressel said. “When you’re out there day and night, and we had a couple other things we had to attend to that night that were newsworthy. It’s like ‘Ahhh!’ ”
Clarett is in jail and Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Andrea Peeples raised his bond to $5 million.
“It’s just very sad,” quarterback Troy Smith said. “It was a shock at first to see his name. There is nothing we can do. Every man chooses his path. I just hope he’s all right.”
Meanwhile, Thursday afternnoon was media day and picture day for the Buckeyes. Once again, as the start of a season approaches, Tressel was standing amid reporters answering questions about a player who hasn’t played at Ohio State in four years.
“When things pop up it’s like ‘Whoa,’ ” Tressel said. “It is what it is. You have to answer them. There was never a point four years ago when I said, ‘So-and-so graduates, we’ll never have the hear about him, or so-and-so is not here, and we won’t have to hear about him.’ You press on and answer the questions.”
Since scoring the game-winning touchdown in the Fiesta Bowl that won Ohio State a national title, Clarett’s public relationship with OSU — with Tressel, specifically — has been stormy. It started when he accused Ohio State officials of failing to allow him to attend a friend’s funeral the week of the national title game. Then-Athletics Director Andy Geiger said Clarett did not complete the proper paperwork to use emergency funding provided by the NCAA.
Clarett then became ensnared in an NCAA investigation and was suspended for the 2003 season because he wasn’t truthful with NCAA investigators. He sued to play in the NFL a year before the league’s collective bargaining agreement allowed, and lost that suit.
He was out of football when he claimed Tressel and Ohio State provided him with special assistance to get by classes, and favorable jobs.
“I don’t know if he was knocking me,” Tressel said. “I didn’t hear or see any of that type of thing. Sometimes people’s words aren’t even their own. I never took anything I heard, or was told, as him knocking me. I probably took it as him struggling.
“We try to teach our people the strongest trait anyone can possibly have in the world is forgiveness, and you want to be a strong person. If someone made some comments or whatever, forgiveness is important. (Clarett) knows I’ve never done anything other than be there for him. That’s why I was a little bit disappointed I didn’t connect the other day.”
Clarett’s robbery trial is scheduled to start Monday. The night Ohio State beat Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl this past January, Clarett allegedly showed a gun to a couple and took their cell phone at a Columbus nightclub.
The entire saga is a teaching tool Ohio State’s coaching staff will use. “There are a lot of cautionary tales over the course of athletic and human history,” Tressel said. “We bring up the Walter Mitty stories, too. You keep telling them and keep telling them and maybe his can help somebody. Maybe the ones we told when he was here, didn’t help him. That’s what we feel bad about.” Reach Repository sports writer Todd Porter at (330) 580-8340 or e-mail: [email protected]




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The best of college football's offense and coaching
August 14, 2006
I never thought I'd ever see anything more humiliating, more emasculating, than my wife putting a diaper on my 15-year-old dog.
Seriously, he was looking at me like, "Bro, we've been through everything together. A diaper?"
So as I'm petting him and telling him it's better than the alternative, I'm thinking to myself, there's no doubt this is the best dog ever. The Best.
Now that I've wasted 30 seconds of your life with that anecdote, I've got some more bests going into the season. We'll start with coaches and offense today, and go with defense and special teams tomorrow.
Best coach: Pete Carroll, USC.
Best program builder: Mark Richt, Georgia.
Best coach to win one game: Jim Tressel, Ohio State.
Best shot at moving up: George O'Leary, UCF.
Best shot at moving out: Phil Fulmer, Tennessee.
Best RB on third and short: Brian Leonard, Rutgers.
Best RB workhorse: Kenny Irons, Auburn.
Best RB you've never heard of: Mike Hamilton, Oklahoma State.
Best QB in the clutch: Brady Quinn, Notre Dame.
Best QB in the two-minute drill: Tyler Palko, Pittsburgh.
Best QB you've never heard of: John Beck, BYU.
Best hands on third and short: TE Zach Miller, Arizona State.
Best deep threat: Jason Hill, Washington State.
Best WR you've never heard of: Joel Filani, Texas Tech.
Best dog: mine. Diaper and all.
 
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