Jim Tressel, former OSU coach, nominated to be Ohio’s next lieutenant governor

Ohio governor Mike DeWine has nominated former Ohio State football coach and Youngstown State president Jim Tressel to be the state’s lieutenant governor. On Monday, DeWine announced Tressel as his pick, which must be approved by a majority of state lawmakers.

Tressel, whose nickname as a coach was “The Senator” due to his calm sideline demeanor, said Monday he was surprised when DeWine approached him less than two weeks ago about the position, which he would fill in place of Jon Husted, who moved on to senator in place of vice president JD Vance.

DeWine’s Republican Party holds more than 2/3 of both chambers. If the selection is approved, the 72-year-old Tressel will hold the job for the remaining two years of the term.

As a football head coach, Tressel posted a 229-79-2 record, winning four Division I-AA national championships at Youngstown State and the 2002 BCS national championship at Ohio State. He went 106-22 with the Buckeyes.

Tressel’s coaching career ended in 2011 amid the “Tattoogate” scandal at Ohio State, in which players received tattoos in exchange for autographs or memorabilia. Tressel was accused of lying about knowledge of the violations and resigned as head coach. He received a five-year show-cause penalty from the NCAA, and Ohio State was banned from the 2012 postseason. The scandal and punishment, in hindsight, have been criticized by some for being overly strong now that players can receive money for NIL and soon directly from the school.

In 2014, Tressel became the president at Youngstown State, a role he held until 2023. The school credited him for a sharp rise in graduation rates under his watch.

“I’m an educator, that’s just what I was trained to be and that’s what I’ll be until I die,” Tressel said at Monday’s news conference.

(Photo: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)