Talking with Jim Tressel: Former Ohio State coach on Terrelle Pryor and Johnny Manziel
Terrelle Pryor and Jim Tressel spent three years together at Ohio State as quarterback and coach. Tressel said he still texts his former player from time to time. (Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer)
By Doug Lesmerises, Northeast Ohio Media Group
September 04, 2013
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Jim Tressel checks in on how Terrelle Pryor is doing. Tressel's former quarterback at Ohio State is now the starting quarterback for the Oakland Raiders. And Tressel also checks sometimes on what Pryor's saying.
“We talked this summer a little bit, and I think he's hung in there and I think he's done a nice job of handling the situation,” Tressel told Cleveland.com in a phone interview this week. “I try to read every once in a while his media comments and he seems to be doing a good job from that standpoint.”
One thing Pryor was asked about recently, and one thing that Tressel noticed, was the NCAA situation of Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel. It wasn't this simple of a comparison, but for many people, the NCAA issues for both Manziel now and Pryor in 2010 and 2011 were the same - dealing with high-profile quarterbacks and autographs.
Pryor received a five-game suspension and eventually left Ohio State because of the NCAA fallout. Manziel was suspended for a half.
“At the end of the day, it’s their world,” Pryor recently told SI.com. “They get to choose and set the rules. All I can do is speak for myself. I broke rules, and I paid for it. I don’t know if Manziel did or not - that’s not my business. But at the end of the day, I broke a rule, I learned from it, and I now understand that I can’t do that type of stuff.
“When I was young … I made those mistakes when I was 18. I took it as a man, and I’m moving on. … I was greedy, taking money. I learned quite a bit about not being selfish in those terms. I was young when I made that mistake, and if I could have it back, I’d go a different route and make better decisions. It was a poor choice when I made it, but all I can speak on is myself. It was just setting forth that in terms of the NCAA, you have to do everything right.”
You could imagine Tressel nodding his head in agreement with those words. The former coach would like an answer like that.
“I thought Terrelle did a nice job when he was asked about that, that really there was nothing he could do about that. He took care of what he was responsible for and he's moving forward,” Tressel said.
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Talking with Jim Tressel: His coaching class, and maybe President Tressel? "That would be scary"
Jim Tressel, at the OSU Alumni Banquet in Cleveland last fall, is back teaching a coaching class at the University of Akron. (Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer)
By Doug Lesmerises, Northeast Ohio Media Group
September 05, 2013
COLUMBUS, Ohio – President Tressel?
“That would be scary, wouldn't it?” Jim Tressel said in response this week during a phone interview with Cleveland.com.
The idea of Tressel as the next president of the University of Akron was floated two weeks ago, and it immediately generated a response. Part of it was people wondering how a coach still under a five-year show-cause penalty for NCAA violations could even be considered to run an entire school.
So I asked Tressel if he thought his NCAA past would hold him back in his future in colleges, whatever that might be.
“No matter what your background, whether it's your won-loss record or NCAA things or just peoples' opinions, obviously that can affect what you do in the future,” Tressel said. “So you don't worry about that. You are who you are and you try to go forward with what you think you'd like to do and what you think people would like you do to and let the chips fall where they may. I don't worry too much about yesterday and I'm not worried about any effect on tomorrow.”
Sounds like one of the inspirational quotes Tressel sends out on his Twitter account each day. You will not get Jim Tressel to dwell.
Akron did get him to teach.
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Tressel is coaching in the classroom
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Updated Sep 28, 2013
Jim Tressel is no longer on the sidelines. He is still teaching and coaching.
Daily tasks are much different than his days as head coach at Ohio State but his objectives at the University of Akron remain the same.
Instead of game planning for the next Big Ten team to come into the Horseshoe, Tressel, Akron’s vice president for student success, has a variety of duties, including teaching a three-credit course called the General Principles of Coaching.
Tressel, 60, alongside his mentor Jim Dennison, tag team the class that ranges from college students to recent retirees. Dennison, Akron’s all-time most winning coach from 1986-93, gave a 23-year-old Tressel his first job out of college in 1975 as a graduate assistant.
From a coaching family and playing quarterback for his father, Dr. Lee Tressel, at Baldwin-Wallace, Jim Tressel was prepared for life after his playing days. Tressel continues to credit Dennison for shaping many of the philosophies he coached with during his 36-year career.
“It wasn’t like it was brand new to me but anything different than the way my father did was totally brand new,” Tressel told FOXSports.com in a telephone interview. “It was life-changing being here with Jim and [nearly] 40 years later getting back with him has been a real blessing.
“I think when you have your first opportunity and you don’t have any experience that first opportunity does a lot to shape who you are and how you proceed.”
Tressel, of course, went on to coach major college football at Youngstown State and Ohio State and uses his experience as examples to his students.
The duo begins the semester with the fundamentals and by answering a basic question, “What is coaching?”
Gradually, the dialogue transitions into foundational beliefs and what gets the most out of players. The curriculum is designed to cover all avenues of the industry, including visualizing success, building a program from scratch and how to motivate the modern-day player. Football X’s and O’s aren’t a priority because the class welcomes students from all sports, which hosts guest speakers who are involved in other Akron athletic programs.
Tressel shares his timeless philosophy – ‘The Wheel of Life’ or ‘The Block O of Life’ – which is based on six pillars, and makes players define their purpose and set goals for themselves for life both during and after football.
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Saw that Tweet earlier...not even sure what my feelings/reactions are towards it. Other than I read it a few times .
I don't think it'd be over though. Wasn't it 5 years? Maybe I'm wrong and it was 3.
