Ohio State Football: The time is right to honor Jim Tressel

The Ohio State football program has the perfect opportunity to honor one of its greatest coaches of all-time this upcoming season.

Three years ago, I vouched for the Ohio State football program to do right and honor its former coach, Jim Tressel. It’s a shame that I have to do it again. Coach Tress being carried off the field by his former 2002 National Championship team every ten years as they have done in 2012 and 2022 is not a good enough honor. He deserves more.

His name belongs in the ring of honor with Wood Hayes and Paul Brown. What Tressel did in 2001 and 2002 to turn around a depleted program and start the 20-plus-year dominance of Ohio State football should not be forgotten. And winning that national title should be enough to get his name on the C-Deck ring.

But it’s just not about the 106-22 overall record and the 9-1 record against TTUN that Tressel had while coaching the Scarlet and Gray. It’s also about the numerous charitable contributions that he made to the Columbus community. It’s about the players that still love him to this day. It’s about starting that great tradition of singing Carmen Ohio following games. This man has proven himself worthy of being recognized by the University.

Coach Tress isn’t getting any younger and it would be foolish to not give him this honor before it’s too late. We all know how and why he was forced to leave the program, and it’s still silly to this day. In fact, Urban Meyer was finally able to speak on it after all these years, via Eleven Warriors:

"“It was nonsense, I can say that publicly now, it was nonsense what went on with Coach Tressel and all that, to give a penalty like that.”"

And it wouldn’t happen in today’s age of NIL. Gene Smith needs to wake up and realize that he has the perfect opportunity this season to get this honor accomplished. On September 9th, Ohio State hosts Youngstown State, the school that Tressel was brought into Columbus from back in 2000 and the school that he just finished his tenure as school President. Let’s honor Coach Tressel on that day. Heck, it might even help the Athletic Department in filling up the stadium for such a lackluster opponent.

I believe that I speak for every Ohio State football fan when I say that he deserves this and it should get done next season.