Jim Tressel: Head Coach of Ohio State

Jim Tressel is the head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes. He has held the position since 2001, making the 2009 college football season his ninth as the head coach of the team. Prior to his time at Ohio State, Tressel was the wildly successful head coach of Division I-AA Youngstown State.

Background and Early Coaching Career

Jim Tressel, born in Ohio to a football coach, seemed destined to one day become perhaps the single most important football man in the state. Tressel played under his father at Division III Baldwin-Wallace College as quarterback from 1971-1974, eventually being named an all-conference player in his senior season. His father would go on to win a Division III national championship in 1978.

After graduating from Baldwin-Wallace, Tressel bounced around in a handful of different assistant coaching positions. He was an assistant at the University of Akron, Miami (Ohio) University, Syracuse University and Ohio State.

In 1986 he became the head coach of Youngstown State University, a position he would hold for 15 years. In those 15 years he amassed a 135-57-2 record, winning four Division I-AA national championships along the way. The championship seasons came in 1991, 1993, 1994 and 1997.

Jim Tressel as Ohio State Buckeyes Head Coach

Jim Tressel became the head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes prior to the 2001 season. In 2002, the team went undefeated to win the BCS national championship, besting the undefeated squad from the University of Miami. Including that win, Ohio State would win four straight bowl games from 2002-2005, including three wins in the Fiesta Bowl. Tressel's record at Ohio State is 83-19, making his career head coaching record 218-76-2. The worst season that Ohio State has had under Tressel was his first, when the team went 7-5.

Recent Criticisms

Despite the fact that Tressel and the Buckeyes have won four consecutive conference titles and won a national championship in 2002, all is not perfectly well for the coach. Jim Tressel and Ohio State have come under criticism in recent years for their poor showings in bowl games. They have lost three consecutive bowl games, all of which were BCS bids and two of which were for the national championship. The Big Ten winners were generally outperformed by far superior athletes and in the eyes of critics, didn't deserve their repeated bids.

Jim Tressel and Ohio State in the 2009 College Football Season

Ohio State is one of college football's preseason top 10 teams, and is the favorite to win the Big 10 conference title. It would be Tressel and the Buckeyes' fifth straight conference championship should they live up to those expectations. The offense will be led by the dynamic Terrell Pryor but both sides of the ball will have major gaps to fill in from talented players leaving and moving onto the NFL. The list includes cornerback Malcolm Jenkins, linebacker James Laurinaitis and running back Beanie Wells.

Sources: www.coachtressel.com