Jim Tressel Named President of Youngstown State University

Former Ohio State head football coach Jim Tressel's administrative career took another step forward Friday as he was named president of Youngstown State University.

According to The Columbus Dispatch, Tressel was awarded the presidency after missing out on the same position at the University of Akron. Tressel previously served as executive vice president at Akron, but he is set to take on even greater responsibilities at Youngstown State pending contract finalization.

University board chair Sudershan Garg believes that Tressel has all the qualities necessary to thrive in this new role, per The Columbus Dispatch.

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After fully examining each and every candidate and reviewing the input from hundreds of individuals across the campus and the community, the Board of Trustees believes Mr. Tressel is the right individual at the right time to lead Youngstown State University. Mr. Tressel has the personality and leadership skills, in addition to widespread community support, to dramatically raise YSU’s profile and prominence across Ohio and the nation.

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Tressel is best known for coaching Ohio State from 2001 through 2010 and leading the Buckeyes to a national championship in 2002. Tressel also has a long history at Youngstown State, though.

He coached the Penguins from 1986 through 2000 and was welcomed back into the Youngstown State family by the YSU athletics Twitter account Friday:

Although Tressel had a great deal of success at Ohio State, his tenure there came to a controversial end as he resigned in 2011 in the midst of an improper benefits scandal.

Tressel served one year as a consultant with the Indianapolis Colts before taking on an administrative role at Akron.

There was some concern regarding Tressel being put in such a position after the way things unraveled at Ohio State, but Tressel has excelled by all accounts.

It has long been assumed that Tressel might eventually return to football, but he is now firmly entrenched in another level of collegiate administration.

Tressel already accomplished the ultimate goal in college football by winning a national title, which likely makes it much easier for him to leave that life behind.

From Youngstown State's perspective this seems like a great hire. Tressel has YSU roots and is well respected by those with ties to the school. In addition to that, he will help push Youngstown State to greater prominence on the national scale.

Tressel's image has seemingly been fully repaired since 2011 and this essentially completes his comeback story. Tressel did some great things at Ohio State in spite of the way things ended and there is reason to believe that he'll do the same at Youngstown State in a different capacity.

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