Jim Tressel: “I Haven’t Thought Too Much About Coaching”

Jim Tressel's coaching career appears to be over.

Jim Tressel spoke with Joe Ginley today following a seminar at John Carroll University.

Few Buckeye fans will forget the Jim Tressel era. The 2002 National Championship. A record against Michigan of 9-1. Tresselball. Six Big Ten Championships. A total of 14 NFL first-round draft choices. Players such as Craig Krenzel, Troy Smith, A.J. Hawk, Ted Ginn Jr., Beanie Wells and James Laurinitis. Ohio State faithful will always hold a special place in their hearts for Jim Tressel. Today he shared his thoughts about coaching and about his new job, providing an interesting perspective for Buckeye fans.

Since the hiring of Urban Meyer and an undefeated 2012 campaign, the Tatoo-gate scandal has faded. Bring up the topic in front of a Buckeye, though, and bad memories immediately come to mind. The departures of Terrelle Pryor and the beloved Tressell, as well as the suspensions of DeVier Posey, Boom Herron and others, still sting. The 2011 season was not an easy one for Ohio State fans to endure. Surely, it still lingers in the mind of Jim Tressel. But he has since moved on.

Akron University hired Tressel as Vice President of Strategic Engagement in February of 2012. Since beginning the job in April of that same year, Tressel has had a blast. Working with students, alumni, college administrators and local business leaders to make the Akron experience phenomenal, Tressel has poured his heart and soul into his work.

His job brought him to University Heights, Ohio to the campus of John Carroll University today for the Cleveland College Consortium. He was the keynote speaker for the seminar, addressing college administrators and local business leaders in an attempt to form partnerships between the groups. This reporter had a chance to interview Tressel for a few minutes, discussing a variety of topics. The most of interest to Buckeye fans would be Tressel’s reply to the question: “Do you ever think about coaching or possibly doing it again?”

Tressel answered by stating: “I feel like I coach every day, it’s just in different ways. I probably had my most excitement and fun watching young people develop, not just on the field, but off. I feel like I’m getting to do that every day, so I really haven’t thought too much about coaching.”

From both Tressel’s demeanor and the way he replied to the query, Tressel is happy in his current position at Akron. He loves what he does, which primarily involves interacting with students. At one point of the interview, when asked if Tressel has had any time to relax lately, he said: “Well, I haven’t had any time off, but I’ve been enjoying my time. My wife told me the other day that she thinks I’m working more hours than I did [as a coach], and I tell her that I used have 100 guys and now I have 28,000. It takes more time.”

Comments

  1. Great work, Joe. Gold star.

  2. Thank you, sir, I appreciate it

  3. Awesome stuff young obi wan…..

  4. I wonder how good Tressell could be at coaching up a rag-tag group of guys trying to run a blog!

    Great stuff, Joe.

  5. Tom Osborne says hello Jim and pick up the phone and call Shawn E.

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