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Put on your sweatervest, get out your American Flag pin and conservative playsheet, and get ready for some winning.
EDSBS’ Spencer Hall started this off, and reminded us that James Patrick Tressel was hired to lead the Ohio State University football program a mere ten years ago on 01.17.01. However, for Buckeye fans, the Tressel legacy truly began with this:
And so, on this the 10th anniversary of “The Speech”, we pause to give thanks and reflect on the decade. To be honest, it’s important to do this more often than just once a year… when you think about where the Buckeyes have been historically and the heights that Coach Tressel has brought the program to, it’s important to have perspective.
You can’t talk about Tress without looking at the numbers he’s amassed:
Of course, the most important numbers of all: 9-1 in The Game. Yup, it matters:
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And these numbers don’t tell the entire story. They don’t talk about the student athletes whose lives have been changed because of their connections with Coach Tressel. It doesn’t address the impact on the community- from personal donations to other institutions, to players’ buying into a philosophy that reminds them of the importance of “Paying It Forward”.
Not afraid of a little PDA
The numbers don’t measure a coach who’s recruiting style is upheld by some as the ideal for this sometimes controversial area of college sports. They can’t tell the story of the search process for a storied program and most heated rival being done with one eye on Columbus…
Brandon stopped short of saying Michigan needs a “Michigan Man” as its next head coach, but he wants someone who understands the school’s culture and the unique challenges at Michigan. He wants someone with previous head-coaching experience, but not necessarily in an automatic qualifying conference. “Is [Jim] Tressel a bad coach?” Brandon said, referring to the Ohio State boss who came to Columbus from FCS Youngstown State. “He seems to be doing pretty well down there, especially against us.”
including the decision on how to announce the newest head coach.
Happy to be here. Seriously.
All this has been accomplished by a man who, while being named National Coach of the Year on one occasion has never won the same accolade from the Big Ten. And yet, he responded in typical Tressel fashion:
I think we’re expected to be at the top. So if we wind up there, then that’s not extraordinary. And I’ve got many plaques and trophies in my office, so that doesn’t blow my mind.
There are places on the interwebs, blogs and bulletin boards, where they sometimes discuss “Who do we want to replace Coach Tressel when he retires?” Just something to talk about, not based on speculation or the fertilizer that some folks live with. You can firmly count me in the crowd that doesn’t even want to think about that day… the announcement that The Vest is stepping down will hit me deeper than any gameday loss.
Jim Tressel has become an icon in the world of college sports in many ways, and I can’t imagine an Autumn Saturday without him on the sidelines- praising, encouraging, challenging, but most importantly- representing The Ohio State University with pride and dignity.
I may have posted this here before, but this is a “note” that I submitted to the “Support for Coach Tressel” thread over at Buckeye Planet:
Coach-
I, as a fan, have five goals for the head coach of The Ohio State University:
- Represent the University and the State with class and excellence
- Run a clean program (both from the NCAA and legal perspective)
- Graduate players, or provide them the opportunity to get a job (go pro)
- Influence players and others impacted by the program to be better people
- Beat Michigan (1-11 is something I can live with, as long as that one win is the one that matters).
While it’s unreasonable for a fan to have goals for a coach that they will never meet, I want you to know how thankful I am that you have exceeded each of these beyond my ability to describe. Thank you for your faithful service to the students, student athletes, alumni, and fans of Ohio State. Yours is an example that many should follow.
So today, we take a moment to celebrate the present glory, remember the very recent past, and get ready for a future that looks strangely like a red sweatervest.
Thanks, Coach.
******
In the comments- what’s your favorite “Tressel moment” of the past decade?
January 17th, 2011 at 6:35 pm
My personal favorite Tressel moment happened last spring. The University was opening the new student union and had many former football players, such as Archie Griffin, James Laurinaitis, and Santonio Holmes, as well as Coach Tressel. I stood in front of him and shook his hand, and Tressel asked where I was from. I said [name of small town], Ohio, and we talked about my high school football team, the coach who had just left, how the new coach might do, etc. This alone was remarkable, in my eyes, although I figured Tressel knew everything there is to know about high school football in this state. What made the moment my favorite was when I got a call about an hour later from a friend who was in line a ways behind me. She also talked with Tressel about our high school football team, and Coach Tressel said, “I think someone else from [small town] was in line a while ago. Do you know him?” Totally worth missing that chem lab.
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January 17th, 2011 at 6:59 pm
I met Jim Tressel at a Hall of Fame luncheon in Canton, Ohio when he was the guest speaker. We spoke for about 30 seconds and there wasn’t really anything to the conversation outside of introducing ourselves and polite small talk.
Two years later, I met him again on the sidelines during spring practice. I introduced myself again and he said “yes, we met in Canton, right?”
What kind of a man does it take to recall things like that? To me, that is an amazing ability, and I am forever impressed with the strength of his memory.
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January 17th, 2011 at 7:22 pm
While the ’03 NC was the greatest moment, a related matter is what impresses me the most. Maurice Clarett was a spectacular player and an essential part of that team. There was trouble with hm leading up to the game, but the Championship put all that behind us. Then the real trouble began. He got suspended for the year, made a bunch of accusations, said some things on ESPN, and was gone from the team. He failed in the NFL, soon he was arrested twice and off to prison. He was released last year, and somewhat surprisingly re-enrolled at OSU. But then I read that Coach Tressel was essential in getting him back into school. He went to bat for Clarett, despite all the trouble, the accusations, and all the bad blood. To do that shows me the Coach is really someone special.
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January 18th, 2011 at 1:52 am
Good stuff, Mr. Mali.
What I like best about Coach Tressel is that every time you turn around, he’s done something else right. It isn’t so much a moment here or there as it is consistency of excellence under incredible pressure.
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gary
January 18th, 2011 at 5:35 pm
So True. Just as example all five players recently in the news gave Tressel their word, and all kept it. That tells me the respect Tressel commands with his players.
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MaliBuckeye
January 18th, 2011 at 5:48 pm
Yup- check back tomorrow for more thoughts on this…
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gary
January 20th, 2011 at 8:27 pm
So I am checking back. Now what
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MaliBuckeye
January 20th, 2011 at 9:49 pm
Well, there’s this: http://www.thebuckeyebattlecry.com/?p=12294
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gary
January 21st, 2011 at 9:30 pm
Nice!!!
January 18th, 2011 at 8:36 am
We’re a lucky bunch of Buckeyes to have Tress. Having grown up at the tail end of Woody’s reign and lived through Earle and Coop, I really appreciate these days. This is the best we’ve had it on a consistent basis in a long, long time.
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January 18th, 2011 at 11:29 am
His “opening” speech (clip). He calmly and confidently stated what to expect of his players academically, civilly and athletically. Very matter of fact; here is what he and his charges will deliver to The Ohio State community.
And yes, I have my flag lapel pin, my red sweater vest, and being a couple years older than JT, a pronounced ‘salt-and-pepper’ look as well.
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January 18th, 2011 at 11:55 am
There are tons of favorite moments in my quiver, as it were, but I keep getting a kick out of the small glimpses we get into Tress’ sense of humor- at a press conference, during a speech, and so forth.
There used to be video of it, but a favorite moment was at Penn State last year when the team started to do the Buckeye Bounce prior to Carmen Ohio. Tress was up front and locked arm and shoulder with the rest of the team as they started to chant and hop- He looked at the student next to him, shrugged his shoulders, and joined the fun. Classic moment.
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January 19th, 2011 at 11:16 am
My favorite Tressel memories are 1. the part of his National Championship speech where he praised the band and 2. doing a video interview with him for a supplemental CD to go along with the new version of the “Script Ohio” book. This book is a history of the OSU marching band that is published by the band fraternity every decade or so and I had the privilege to be a part of that when I was a student. It was pretty cool sitting in Tressel’s office and talking to him about how the football team views the band and it’s importance on gamedays.
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