43
Tressel's victories show no signs of stopping
OSU football coach Jim Tressel stands on the verge of …
By Rob Todor
The defining qualities of Jim Tressel provide one of the great ironies of this story.
The man who is on the verge of winning his 100th game as Ohio State football coach faster than anyone in history has done so because he has never wavered from his plan for success — patience and perseverance.
“Those are the two defining qualities of Jim Tressel,” said Ken Conatser, who served on the Youngstown State coaching staff under Tressel and is currently a staff assistant at Ohio State.
“He has kept on the same path,” added Carmine Cassese, the head equipment manager at Youngstown State. “In watching what has transpired it’s amazing how little he’s changed.”
Should the Buckeyes defeat Indiana on Saturday — and they are three-touchdown favorites —Tressel’s OSU record will improve to 100-21.
It will make him not only the fastest to reach 100 wins in OSU history (it took John Cooper 142 games and Woody Hayes needed 144), but the third-quickest in Big Ten history, behind only Fielding Yost and Bo Schembechler, who both reached the milestone in 119 games at Michigan.
Additionally, the victory will make Tressel the first coach in college football history to win 100 games at two Division I schools.
He was 135-57-2 in 15 seasons at Youngstown State.
Not surprisingly, Tressel isn’t concerned with the milestone.
At his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Tressel was asked if he had reflected on the significance.
“Love it. I’m a reflective guy,” said Tressel, the answer dripping heavily with sarcasm.
“I don’t know, I’d rather have a sixth [win this season] than a hundred. I guess you can’t have one without the other, so I guess it would be neat.
“I guess I’m getting old. If you stick around long enough, you’re going to get some of those milestones.”
That’s Tressel, who’s focus is always on the big picture, rather than the moment.
“I was shocked the first time I was at a practice [at Ohio State],” said Cassese. “It was identical to a practice at YSU. You would assume that [Tressel] would change his perspective when he left for Ohio State, but he ran our program exactly the same as he does OSU.”
That single-mindedness was evident long ago.
“I first met [Tressel] in 1981 when we were on the same coaching staff at Syracuse,” said Conatser. “I hadn’t worked with him long, but you could see … our head coach, Dick MacPherson, told me, ‘He has greatness written all over him.’
“The thing is, football doesn’t define him. He has great focus and just works harder than everybody,” Conatser added. “He would have been a success in anything he would have tried. He would have been great in politics, or as a motivational speaker.”
Long-time YSU assistant coach Sam Eddy, who joined the program in 1994, said Tressel’s leadership skills always impressed him.
“I’ve always said, we were a touchdown ahead [before the game started] because of his leadership skills,” said Eddy.
“One other thing was his confidence — it wasn’t a false confidence, or anything like that,” added Eddy. “He is confident in his plan, and he stays with it. As a staff member or player, you got a sense of his confidence, and it carried over.”
Part of that confidence is, if Tressel recruits a person to play or coach for him, it’s because he believes that person has the ability to perform at the highest level.
“He allows his coaches to do their job,” said Eddy. “He believes he hired good people, and he lets you coach your players.”
Mark Brungard, the Poland football coach, started at quarterback for three years at Youngstown State for Tressel from 1992-95.
He led the Penguins to national championships in 1993 and 1994 — an unbeaten season while accomplishing the latter — and is fourth on the school’s all-time passing yards list.
“He’s never lost his passion for excellence,” said Brungard. “One morning, I went to his office and saw a cot. I realized he had spent the night in his office. That level of commitment made his coaches coach harder and instilled a sense of pride in the players of how we wanted to represent ourselves, YSU and Youngstown.”
Tressel also coached the quarterbacks at YSU, so he and Brungard spent a lot of time together.
“He taught the quarterbacks that we were the emotional stabilizers of the team,” said Brungard, “whether things were low or high. He always coached the same way. He had a good sense of what the team was feeling.”
That’s the common theme. It goes beyond the wins.
The legacy is his impact and influence on players, coaches and fans who get even a little time with “Coach Tress.”