Ohio State makes Jim Tressel a hall of famer

0 Shares Print It’s time to bronze another sweater vest. Ohio State announced Wednesday that former football coach Jim Tressel will be one of the 15 inductees to the university’s athletic hall of fame this year. Tressel and his trademark wardrobe choice won 94 games during his 10 years in Columbus. One of those 94 victories was a national championship, in his second year with the program. He also won six Big Ten titles and beat rival Michigan eight times – only Woody Hayes beat the Wolverines more often as an Ohio State coach. Of course, those accomplishments aren’t the first thing most people outside the state of Ohio think of when they reflect on Tressel’s coaching career. The hall of fame announcement comes four years and a couple weeks after the coach resigned amid scandal. He withheld information from the NCAA during an investigation into Buckeyes players receiving free tattoos and other illegal benefits. Jim Tressel won six Big Ten titles and one national championship in 10 years as Ohio State’s head coach. Tom Pidgeon/Getty ImagesThe NCAA handed out a one-year postseason ban to Ohio State, among other punishments. Tressel left the school with a five-year show-cause penalty, which means any school that hires him as a coach during that period is subject to NCAA sanctions. By the time that expires, Tressel’s award will have already gathered a year’s worth of dust. The penalty hasn’t hurt Tressel’s professional career since he left Columbus. After a brief stint with the Indianapolis Colts, he took a non-athletics job at the University of Akron as the vice president of strategic engagement. Less than a year later he moved on as the president at Youngstown State, where he coached for 15 seasons and won four NCAA Division I-AA titles. The way he left the Buckeyes didn’t sully his reputation in certain circles of the college football world, either. In January, while his old team was preparing to play in a national championship game under Urban Meyer, Tressel was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. That announcement raised a few eyebrows, but it opened the door for Ohio State to welcome Tressel into their own hall without looking terribly foolish. Coupled with the Buckeyes’ sound victory over Oregon and return to the top of the sport later that week, Tressel’s impending enshrinement served as a good reminder of how quickly winning cures all ills. With the mess Tressel helped to create fully cleaned up by Meyer, the former coach was free to be remembered again for his earlier accomplishments on the field. The stated purpose of Ohio State’s hall of fame on the school’s official website says it exists “to pay tribute and extend recognition to those individuals who through the years have contributed to the honor and fame of The Ohio State University in the field of athletics.” Ten winning seasons and a national title certainly contributed to Ohio State’s fame…

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