Before coming to Ohio State, Jim Tressel was a coaching deity at Div. 1-AA Youngstown State.
During his 15 years at the school, Tressel compiled a 135-57-2 record with four national championships won in a playoff format and two other seasons where his Penguins were lost in the title game.
So, with all of that history, could he be returning at some point in the future? The very near future? At least one member of the current faculty is pushing for that very thing to happen.
According to Bob Hunter of the Columbus Dispatch, a YSU faculty member has nominated Tressel to become the university’s next president. The faculty member submitted Tressel’s name in a letter to the school’s search committee.
When asked about the nomination, Hunter said Tressel was momentarily speechless, and then realized the weight his words would carry in any answer he gave.
“There’s no good answer to that question, is there?” Tressel finally answered.
“I love that place,” Tressel said later on, with the word “love” emphasized by the Dispatch writer/editors. “But I wouldn’t want to say anything at all that would indicate that I don’t love what I’m doing right now.”
Tressel has come under more fire this season than at any point during his 8+ seasons in Columbus. Probably at least as much as all the other seasons combined. So, would Tressel toss a 1-A coaching gig to the side for a 1-AA presidency?
That seems highly, highly unlikely. But it also seems that, if he wanted it, YSU would trip over itself to get him to come back “home”.