Tuesday, December 31, 2002
He's made the Buckeyes embrace his philosophies on football and tradition.
By ANDREW BAGNATO
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
COLUMBUS -- Last summer, Ohio State tight end Ben Hartsock invited his coaches and teammates to a party at his family's farm outside Chillicothe. There were hay rides, target-shooting lessons and a down-home barbecue.
At one point, head coach Jim Tressel clambered aboard a tractor with Hartsock and began to roll.
"It was a good thing I was in there with him," Hartsock recalled with a chuckle. "I'll tell you what: If I wouldn't have helped him steer, it might have ended up in the woods."
Tressel might not know much about farm machinery. But he has steered the Buckeyes to a 13-0 record, the most victories in school history, and a date with top-ranked Miami in Friday's Fiesta Bowl.
There, Ohio State will play for its first national title since 1968.
How did the Buckeyes go from seeming underachievers to the brink of glory?
One reason is their defense, which is deeper, faster and more experienced.
Another reason is their offense, which got a lift from rookie tailback Maurice Clarett of Youngstown, the Big Ten's Freshman of the Year.
Tressel is driving force
But ask most people here why Ohio State is where it is and they point to the man in the driver's seat.
"He's figured out how to get them ready," said Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger, who hired Tressel.
Tressel, who turned 50 this month, has been here for only 23 months.
But in that relatively brief time he has changed the mindset of one of the nation's fabled football powerhouses.
When Tressel arrived in January 2001, he inherited a program more proficient in producing NFL draft picks than Big Ten championships.
Fired coach John Cooper assembled glittering talent -- 30 former Buckeyes were on NFL rosters this month -- but won only three conference titles in 13 years, and no national championships.
Tressel doesn't downplay NFL aspirations, but he made it clear the program came first. At a time when many elite players have one eye on the NFL draft board, it took a while for Tressel's team-first philosophy to take root.
"Guys that were here before were a little sluggish to come around," Hartsock said. "But once a couple things start going your way, you get a good taste in your mouth, it's amazing how many people will jump to the other side.
"I think that's why we've had as much success is because guys have finally recognized and embraced Coach Tressel's philosophies on football and tradition."
"Tradition" is the right word. With his short-sleeved button-down shirts, striped tie and gray sweater vests, Tressel dresses like a 1950s insurance salesman from his hometown of Mentor.
Tressel requires players to wear jackets and ties to home and road games.
Team sings alma mater
And he made them learn the words to the school's alma mater, "Carmen Ohio," and sing it in front of the band after every home game, win or lose.
"Some people may think singing the alma mater after the end of the game may be a little cheesy, but it's a great song and a great tradition," Hartsock said. "I think being an Ohio guy, Coach Tressel understands what Ohio State football is and where it needs to be."
Tressel made the squad room in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center a shrine to his philosophy. In the front of the room, he had words such as "humility," "love," "persistence" and "responsibility" etched above the stage.
Another wall bears framed letters from former Buckeyes. Tressel wrote to dozens of ex-players and asked them to send their thoughts on their time at Ohio State.
"It's great for our guys to read that," said running backs coach Tim Spencer, an Ohio State alumnus who has a letter on the wall. "It's clear their experience here meant something to a lot of guys."
When Geiger enters the squad room, he thinks of the search that led him to Tressel. Many Buckeyes fans wanted Geiger to lure Bob Stoops, a native of Youngstown, away from Oklahoma.
But the Sooner administration moved quickly to extend Stoops' contract after he won the national title, so Geiger looked to nearby Youngstown, where Tressel had won four national titles at Division I-AA Youngstown State.
Tressel had spent three years as an assistant at Ohio State, under Earle Bruce, so he wasn't an outsider.
"When you think of a football coach, what are you thinking of?" said Geiger, who signed Tressel to an original five-year deal worth close to $4 million. "The whole set of core values that came out kept leading me to Jim."
Geiger said he was drawn to Tressel's roots in the state and his background as a coach's son. Lee Tressel, who died two decades ago, won 155 games at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea.
The Michigan victory was his son's 155th career victory.
"He'll never wear that on his sleeve," Geiger said, "but I happen to know that that's pretty special."
Wins haven't come easy
The Buckeyes don't always win pretty -- five of the their last six victories came by seven points or fewer -- but they have learned to survive with a poise and confidence instilled by Tressel.
Asked last week if he had envisioned leading this team to a perfect record, Tressel shrugged and shook his head.
"There were days when we were trying to see if would could get better by Tuesday," he said.
When a writer mentioned that Tressel and his staff often made timely adjustments in the halftime locker room, Tressel quipped, "There's a school of thought that we do a poor job all week, so we have to adjust."
Tressel is whistling through what was once known as the "Graveyard of Coaches." At 20-5, he has an .800 winning percentage.
The trick will be keeping it there, or close. John Cooper had a .715 winning percentage and was fired, as was Bruce, who posted a .755 winning percentage.
Of course neither of them won a national title. Tressel is one triumph away.
But even if the Buckeyes lose to Miami, Tressel is likely to be offered a contract extension that would keep him here for the rest of his career.
"I hope he's here forever," Geiger said.