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College HOF ceremony awaits Tressel
By STEVE WILAJ
YOUNGSTOWN
Eleven months after being selected, Jim Tressel, Youngstown State University’s president, will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame tonight in New York City.
Tressel, who won four Division I-AA national championships at YSU and a Division I crown at Ohio State, is part of a class of 17. He’s one of two coaches being inducted — the the other is Kansas State’s Bill Snyder.
The 58th National Football Foundation Annual Awards Dinner will be at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel at 8 p.m. The ceremony along with a 9 a.m. media conference will air online on ESPN3.
“That’s not why anyone gets into coaching — that maybe someday you’ll be in the Hall of Fame,” Tressel told The Vindicator after the original announcement in January. “It happens to be a by-product of a lot of good fortune, a lot of great help, a lot of great staff, a lot of great fans, bands, family and a lot of luck.”
Tressel’s YSU teams won four Division I-AA national championships (1991, ’93, ’94 and ’97). The Penguins twice were runners-up under his leadership.
His 2002 Ohio State won a BCS national championship and two other Buckeyes teams played in BCS title games during his 10 years in Columbus.
Tressel’s career record is 229-79-2 (.742). He is the first College Football Hall of Fame inductee — player or coach — from YSU.
Tressel’s coaching career ended when he resigned from Ohio State in 2011 amidst an improper benefit scandal.
Along with Snyder, he’ll be joined in this year’s class by: Trev Alberts (Nebraska), Brian Bosworth (Oklahoma), Bob Breunig (Arizona State), Sean Brewer (Millsaps [Miss.]), Ruben Brown (Pittsburgh), Wes Chandler (Florida), Thom Gatewood (Notre Dame), Dick Jauron (Yale), Clinton Jones (Michigan State), Lincoln Kennedy (Washington), the late Rob Lytle (Michigan), Michael Payton (Marshall), Art Still (Kentucky), Zach Thomas (Texas Tech) and Ricky Williams (Texas).
“Coach Jim Tressel’s name will always be synonymous with Youngstown State,” said Steve Hatchell, NFF President and CEO earlier this year. “He led the Penguins to their most successful period in history, including an extraordinary four FCS national championships in six appearances in the title game.”
Tressel will enter the Hall as part of its Divisional Class, which is meant to honor players and coaches outside college football’s top level (1-AA in Tressel’s YSU days, now known as the FCS).
He was inducted into YSU’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013. He’s also a member of the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall and the Baldwin-Wallace Athletics Hall — as well as the Ohio State Athletics Hall.