Jim Tressel to Akron: How Long Before He Gets the Itch to Coach Again?

If you thought that you would never see former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel working at a college again, well, you were wrong. 

After spending a year tucked away in a video replay booth for the 2-14 Indianapolis Colts, trying to escape the negative publicity that followed him after being ousted from Ohio State amidst a scandal, Tressel is now apparently headed back to the state that made him both famous and infamous.

Tressel is heading back to Ohio.

No, he won’t be coaching—the five-year show-cause placed on him by the NCAA pretty much prevents that from happening any time in the near future. Instead, the former Buckeyes coach will reportedly be working as the vice president of strategic engagement at Akron, the place where he began his coaching career as a graduate assistant back in 1975.

What does that fancy title mean exactly?

Well, from the sound of the job description, it sounds as if Tressel will get paid a pretty nice salary (reportedly $200,000) to hang and talk with students about different issues, although he will not be able to have any direct involvement with the athletic department because of the NCAA penalties levied against him for his cover-up of the Ohio State scandal.

Even though he won’t be working directly with the football team, though, he’ll still bring much-needed name recognition to a school and a program that’s won exactly two games over the last two years.

The Zips were in dire need of a publicity boost, and Tressel certainly gives them that.

The question that many have been asking since he left Columbus, though, is will he ever coach again?

It’s safe to say that no school is going to hire him within the next five years because of the show-cause, and it doesn’t seem like he’s all that desirable of a figure as far as being a head coach is concerned.

While it's not out of the realm of possibilities, at this point it doesn't seem likely.

Right now, though, Tressel is simply trying to put his recent troubles behind him and get his life moving back in a positive direction, and it will be interesting to see how he embraces his new role.