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What you need to know about former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel

colin gay, the columbus dispatch
·3 min read
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Jim Tressel is back on Ohio State's campus.

The former Ohio State head football coach will be honored with the rest of the 2002 national championship-winning team during the No. 2 Buckeyes' primetime matchup with No. 5 Notre Dame at Ohio Stadium.

Here's four things you need to know about Tressel.

Jim Tressel is the third-winningest head coach in Ohio State history

After spending 15 seasons as the head coach at Youngstown State, Tressel was named Ohio State's head football coach prior to the 2001 season, taking over for John Cooper.

From 2001-2010, Tressel led the Buckeyes to 94 wins in 128 games and took the Buckeyes to three national championships and winning one in 2002 against Miami. He won AFCA Coach of the Year, Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year, the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award and the Woody Hayes Trophy in 2002.

Under Tressel, Ohio State won 59 of its 73 Big Ten games.

Jim Tressel led Ohio State to its first undefeated season since 1973 in 2002

After coaching the Buckeyes to a 7-5 record in 2001, Tressel led the Buckeyes to a 14-0 record in 2002, beating Miami in the Fiesta Bowl for the program's seventh national championship.

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Before then, Ohio State's last undefeated season was when the Buckeyes finished 10-0-1 in 1973 under Woody Hayes, finishing the season with a Rose Bowl win against USC.

Jim Tressel and the Ohio State football team celebrate a national championship as time runs out in the second overtime of the 2003 Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., on Jan. 3, 2003.
Jim Tressel and the Ohio State football team celebrate a national championship as time runs out in the second overtime of the 2003 Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., on Jan. 3, 2003.

Ohio State won each of its 10 games for a perfect 10-0 record in 1968. Urban Meyer led the Buckeyes' to their last undefeated season in 2012.

Jim Tressel was an Ohio State position coach before being a head coach

Before his 15-year stint at Youngstown State, Tressel was an Ohio State position coach.

Tressel joined Earle Bruce's staff in 1983 to coach quarterbacks and wide receivers before adding running backs to his responsibilities from 1984-85.

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Tressel started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Akron before coaching quarterbacks and wide receivers at Miami (Ohio) from 1979-80 and quarterbacks at Syracuse from 1981-82.

Jim Tressel resigned as Ohio State's head coach in 2011

Tressel resigned from Ohio State's football program on May 30, 2011 after evidence was found that former Buckeye football players were trading memorabilia for tattoos.

Before he resigned, Tressel was suspended two games for hiding information from the NCAA and failing to report the incident.

Ohio State football's 2022 schedule

  • Week 1: Ohio State vs. Notre Dame, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 3, in Columbus, Ohio

  • Week 2: Ohio State vs. Arkansas State, Sept. 10, in Columbus, Ohio

  • Week 3: Ohio State vs. Toledo, Sept. 17, in Columbus, Ohio

  • Week 4: Ohio State vs. Wisconsin, Sept. 24, Columbus, Ohio

  • Week 5: Ohio State vs. Rutgers, Oct. 1, Columbus Ohio

  • Week 6: Ohio State vs. Michigan State, Oct. 8, East Lansing, Mich.

  • Week 7: Ohio State vs. Iowa, Oct. 22, Columbus, Ohio

  • Week 8: Ohio State vs. Penn State, Oct. 29, State College, Pa.

  • Week 9: Ohio State vs. Northwestern, Nov. 5, Evanston, Ill.

  • Week 10: Ohio State vs Indiana, Nov. 12, Columbus, Ohio

  • Week 11: Ohio State vs. Maryland, Nov. 19, College Park, MD.

  • Week 12: Ohio State vs. Michigan, at noon Nov. 26, Columbus, Ohio

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel: What you need to know