The football coach who led Ohio State to its first national championship in more than 30 years has been picked to be Ohio's next lieutenant governor. Jim Tressel was also the president of Youngstown State and a vice-president at the University of Akron after his coaching career ended following a scandal involving players trading memorabilia for tattoos.
On Monday Gov. Mike DeWine announced Tressel's appointment to the position, which became available after he moved Jon Husted to Vice President JD Vance's U.S. Senate seat. Tressel described being selected as "a humbling moment" but admitted this is a new role for him.
"I don't know this world. Fortunately I believe in our governor and what he believes in. And my first job is to go to school on that," Tressel said. And he's not ruling out running for governor eventually.
Tressel coached at the University of Akron, Miami University and Ohio State before being hired by Youngstown State. He led YSU's football team to four national championships before he came back to Ohio State in 2001 to replace John Cooper. The Buckeyes' win in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl was the first national championship for Ohio State since 1968. Tressel resigned in 2011 after the memorabilia-for-tattoos scandal broke and Ohio State had to vacate its wins for the 2010 season.
Tressel served as a vice president at the University of Akron and as Youngstown State president until February 2023. He's known as a Christian conservative
Tressel's appointment comes as Republican lawmakers are poised to pass Senate Bill 1, a measure that conservatives say will fight back against what they view as liberal indoctrination on public university campuses. The bill would ban nearly all diversity, equity and inclusion programs and training and would ban faculty strikes, among other provisions.
Tressel said education and workforce development are areas he wants to focus on as lieutenant governor.
“This probably is not a greater moment in our state than we have had in hundreds of years with opportunities. And we really need to do a good job of getting that workforce to execute those opportunities," Tressel said.
DeWine said he's previously consulted Tressel about universities and educational matters. “I want someone who would focus on education, someone who would focus on workforce," DeWine said. He said those are the two areas the team will focus on for the next two years. DeWine said he chose Tressel with two objectives in mind.
“Number one, the most important thing, is someone who could serve as governor if something would happen to me over the next 100 weeks," DeWine said. "Second, I want someone who could really contribute, someone who would be value-added for the people of the state of Ohio, someone who has all of the skill sets to be part of our team and to lead."
As for whether he'll run to succeed DeWine, Tressel didn't rule it out, but said he promised "for 699 days to have a singleness of purpose and a singleness of focus" on the lieutenant governor position.
DeWine added that he and Tressel talked about this job and "that's been our focus. We've had no discussion about anything else."
The Ohio House and Senate must confirm Tressel as lieutenant governor.
