Michigan State vs. Ohio State: 4 Reasons Why Buckeye Fans Miss Jim Tressel

Mr. Sweater-vest, Jim Tressel was the Ohio State head coach for 10 years. During that time, he racked up an impressive 106-22 record with the Buckeyes that included a BCS title at the end of the 2002 season.

Tressel led his Buckeyes to eight BCS bowls in those 10 years and won five of them. Unfortunately, the nation only really remembers the three they lost, which included back-to-back BCS title game failures.

Regardless, there's no denying the success the Buckeyes enjoyed under Tressel.

It's Luke Fickell's team now—for now. The jury is still out on how successfully "the heir" can lead this program through tumultuous times. Tressel's reign ended under controversial circumstances and the program is left with several stars on suspension and another gone to the NFL earlier than expected.

As Ohio State prepares to take on fellow defending-conference-champion Michigan State, will the Buckeyes miss the sweater vest on the sideline?

The Stability

Little did we know that, while the Buckeyes were busy racking up conference titles and enjoying trips to BCS bowls, they were also racking up NCAA violations behind the scenes. It's debatable whether or not Tressel knew these violations were going on as well.

One thing fans did know was that Ohio State was going to bring a top-notch team to the field each and every week.

Along with that impressive 106-22 record, Ohio State won or shared six straight Big Ten titles and had seven total under Tressel's tenure. It might not have always been pretty, but the Buckeyes always got it done down the stretch.

With a shaky 27-22 victory at home over Toledo in Week 2, followed by an embarrassing 6-24 loss on the road at Miami (FL), there's some serious questions as to how strong this year's team really is. The other two games the Buckeyes have played have been against Akron and Colorado.

Both of those teams are currently 1-3.

Buckeye fans hope and believe that they've got another Big Ten Champion-caliber team, but that's far from a given at this point. The stability of success has been shaken to the core and the fans will undoubtedly miss knowing for sure that they had a team that would be in the hunt at the end of the season.

The Calm Confidence

Regardless of how squirrely things may have gotten, we never saw Tressel sweat. I sincerely doubt that it was due to some super-duper anti-perspirant.

There has never been a more quietly confident coach than Jim Tressel. We rarely saw him get bent out of shape. He rarely felt the need to scream, shout or show excessive emotion. Certainly, we never saw him spontaneously break out in song (a la Rich Rodriguez while trying to save his job).

Luke Fickell is an intense guy. You can see it in his eyes and read it in his body language. He's no-nonsense and in-your-face tough. There's a place for guys like him and maybe the head position at Ohio State is such a place.

However, behind the steely gaze and ferocious, challenging stare, there's a measure of concern. Will his players respond as hoped? Will the team be better under the intensity, or will it tear them apart?

With Tressel, there was no doubt. You just believed in him. With his every gesture, you knew he had everything under control. You just knew that he knew what he was doing and you couldn't help but want to work for him.

Heck, even as a fan, I wanted to suit up for the guy and I'm well past playing age and not even close to being in any kind of playing shape.

Tressel's quiet confidence and even demeanor didn't demand respect, it commanded it—and there's a very big difference.

The Familiarity

Going along with some of the previous thoughts, football under Jim Tressel was familiar.

He coached the Buckeyes from 2001 through 2010. There's an entire generation of young Buckeye fans who have not known what Ohio State football was like without Tressel. Kids who are now entering their 20's were barely old enough to watch Ohio State play ball when Tressel came to Columbus.

He has been the face of Ohio State football for a decade and has seen the Buckeyes through some interesting times. The BCS came of age with the many controversies surrounding its champions. Conference realignment rumors exploded into frenzied fears.

Brett Bielema took over Wisconsin football, Mark Dantonio took over Michigan State and Purdue found Danny Hope. Illinois brought Ron Zook up from Florida and Michigan went from Lloyd Carr to Rich Rodriguez and then fired him.

But Jim Tressel stayed the same.

The uniforms may be the same and the fans will always remain. Yet, Ohio State football feels considerably different without Tressel.

The Sweater Vest

Come on, admit it. You liked the sweater vest.

It's a borderline fashion faux pas. It's almost geeky and very un-sports-like. The shirt and tie, peeking from the collar and through the arm holes, are more business than football—more office clerk than head coach.

I think I wore a sweater vest once in junior high. I'm pretty sure I got the snot kicked out of me, too.

Yet, it's iconic.

Like Bear Bryant's hat or the Dallas Cowboys star, when you think of Ohio State football, you think of Scarlet and Silver and you think of the sweater vest. It's known nation-wide, in every corner of the college football world. The two go hand-in-hand.

Somehow, Buckeye football just doesn't feel the same and no windbreaker or life jacket-type vest will do.

That's not an invitation for Luke Fickell to start wearing one, though...