Jim Tressel: Was He Underappreciated as Head Coach at Ohio State?

Am I the only Ohio State fan that fully appreciated Jim Tressel while he was still head football coach at OSU?  I am sure I am not, but sometimes I wonder. 

Long before his tenure was clouded by fatal allegations, and the sweater vest was walking the sidelines calmly leading the Buckeyes through the past 10 seasons, each year it felt like frustrations grew louder and louder with the OSU head coach. 

I cannot speak for the whole Ohio State nation, but I do know that during my two to three trips to Ohio State games both in Columbus and on the road, I heard several fans grumbling tirelessly about Tressel’s play calls, general philosophy and lack of success in the latter half of his career at OSU in big games. 

It did not stop there; I was involved in e-mail strings and text exchanges with fellow die-hard fans questioning the coach on the same things. 

Trust me, while I have always supported coach Tressel, and trusted him fully with our program, I too grew frustrated with him on several occasions.  His inability to make timely, decisive changes including the Justin Zwick/Troy Smith situation, his reluctance to recruit the speed and athleticism necessary to compete against powerhouse teams from the South and West Coast, and of course, I too could predict along with the rest of you Tressel’s fairly manila play calls (run, run, pass, punt), especially in big games.

I suffered some of my most painful and humiliating moments as a sports fan watching our OSU teams embarrass us in BCS and other big games against great teams on the big stage. 

There is no denying it was frustrating watching Jim Tressel do his work over the years at times, without a doubt, but I always remained faithful and high in praise of Jim Tressel for a few reasons.  For one, I cannot doubt a coach that made it a priority to beat Michigan and went ahead and did it nine times out of 10. 

Secondly, I cannot doubt a coach that immediately upon becoming OSU’s head coach won a National Championship against Miami one year, beat Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl the following year, then beat Notre Dame in the same game the following year. 

Throw in a steady diet of Big Ten titles and huge in-conference victories at that point, and it seemed as if Tressel could not lose the big game. 

I think everyone agreed that Tressel was the “man” at that point in 2005, but then came the stretch that tested many fans patience with coach Tressel. 

A loss to Texas (one that probably induced the most frustration I have ever had with coach) at home due largely to his stubbornness in insisting on being loyal to Justin Zwick at QB although it was clear that Troy Smith was the better option at that point, leading to multiple costly turnovers down the stretch, then a humiliating loss to Florida in the BCS Championship (a year after beating Notre Dame and Texas in between), a loss to LSU in the BCS game, two straight losses to USC and a Fiesta Bowl loss to Texas. 

The talk got louder about Tressel all of a sudden not being able to win the big game, and his play calling and conservative strategy being stone age.  I really think that at it’s peak about two years ago before big wins against Oregon, Miami (FL), and Arkansas, that many people started to wonder if we could do better with another coach, and if Tressel would ever change from his ways and maybe stop limiting OSU from playing to their full potential.

Well, I acknowledged all of those concerns.  But all along I just could not forget how much things have changed in terms of our expectation on the field under Tressel vs. when coach John Cooper was there, and how we are viewed nationally.  We certainly were a prominent football program prior to Tressel, but not to the point that we were in national championship discussions year in year out, and respected or hated as widely as we were during this era. 

That is something I cannot overlook.  The 9-1 record against Michigan in the biggest rivalry in sports is phenomenal, no matter how much of a mess the “school up north” has been in the last few years. 

He had a .810 winning percentage (better than Woody Hayes), won six Big Ten titles, placed OSU in 7 BCS games, and won less than 10 games only two times in his career.  With that type of success, I have to respect the fact that Coach Tressel has a formula for success and he sticks to it. 

Sure, he’s stubborn about it, and more than likely there is not one fan that does not disagree with at least one aspect of it, but in the end, it has led to success.  He coaches to limit mistakes, play field possession , win on the line of scrimmage and stand upon the foundation of an excellent defense. 

If that’s what has led to the type of success he has had in his coaching career, than I feel obligated to trust him.  

It is sad that his tenure had to come to an end unceremoniously, but I certainly am glad that I took the time to appreciate him while he was still the head football coach at OSU.  A new era has begun and I do have faith in coach Luke Fickell, and/or whoever leads us into the future, but we as Ohio State fans hopefully can look bad fondly on a great era in our program’s history despite it’s unfortunate ending.