An Ohio State legend is in line to be the next lieutenant governor, nominated by Gov. Mike DeWine. Our sports commentator Terry Pluto believes that Jim Tressel has the political and organizational skills to succeed, and he's always been an "Ohio guy."
“He wasn't this big, ambitious, you know, ‘I've got to get the biggest check go to the biggest place,'" Pluto said. "I mean nobody stays that long at Youngstown State now, because if you're that good, you had to get out and grab the biggest check."
Tressel grew up in Mentor and played college football at Baldwin Wallace. Pluto said he talked with Tressel several times when he was coaching at Youngstown State University from 1986 to 2000.
As coach at YSU, Tressel won four FCS national championships. Pluto said Tressel was invested in Youngstown.
“Tressel (stayed) there all that time because he felt a real loyalty to it and he knew that the university, when he was later president, or the football team, you know, that was a sense of pride for the community and something important,” Pluto said.
Pluto said Tressel turned down a number of bigger coaching jobs during his time at YSU because he had his sights on one job: Ohio State. He previously worked at Ohio State as the quarterbacks and receivers coach in 1983.
Tressel was hired as OSU’s head coach in 2001, replacing John Cooper.
“(Cooper) was not viewed as an Ohio guy and there was just a sense that they kind of lost their way,” Pluto said. “They couldn't beat Michigan and it was a weird time and I thought Jim would be able to get in there immediately and kind of be a unifying force, and that's exactly what he was.”
Tressel led the Buckeyes to the BCS National Championship in 2002, their first national title in 30 years. They also won six Big Ten championships.
He was pressured to resign in May 2011 after a memorabilia scandal rocked the team. The Buckeyes ended up vacating their 2010 season following revelations that players in 2009 and 2010 accepted cash and free or discounted tattoos from a Columbus tattoo parlor owner. Investigations also showed players traded memorabilia such as championship rings for cash.
“Even when it broke, it was like one of the dumbest quote "scandals"…(It) wasn't as if there was academic fraud (and) there wasn't anything about these guys getting paid or any of that stuff," Pluto said. "Of course, now they all get paid anyway, so what? But it was it was just ridiculous."
In addition to vacating its wins from the 2010 season, the football program was placed on two years' probation.
After Tressel left Ohio State, he served as executive vice president for student success at the University of Akron before returning to Youngstown State as president from 2014 to 2023.
Pluto said Tressel making the transition to university leadership fit his nickname from his coaching days as “The Senator.”
“He wanted people around him to have a sense of calm and security," Pluto said. "In fact, the big knock on him is, you know, he doesn't yell on the sidelines and this and that. Well, he told me embarrassing people in public is not the way to get the best out of them.”
Pluto believes coaching at a high level and navigating politics go hand in hand.
“Tressel, with his experience, it's not in the political arena classically but to be a big-time football coach to run these universities you have to have a certain amount of political skill and a lot of what I believe administrative and organizational skills, which often, by the way, is missing in government,” Pluto said.
Pluto also believes it was a smart pick by term-limited Republican Gov. Mike DeWine.
“I just think that it was an interesting out-of-the-box selection by a guy who was leaving as governor and not thinking about, ‘Who can I put in position to have my job for the next two terms?' as opposed to, 'I’ll just put this guy in there so that if something happens to me he could run the state and everybody could have their elections and take care of things later,’" Pluto said. "Tressel’s 72 (years old) so it isn't like… well, this guy just wants a 20-year career in politics. I mean, he's in there just to do a job.”
