Ohio State Football: Putting together the all-time Jim Tressel team
By Ryan Stano
Ohio State Football All-Time Jim Tressel team, Defensive Line
The staple of Tressel’s teams was the defense. There were a ton of great defensive players that played for Tress. We start with the defensive line. There were some easy choices and then one really hard one. Here is the list:
DE: Vernon Gholston
DT: Cam Heyward
DT: Johnathan Hankins
DE: Will Smith
Even though he was a bust in the NFL, Vernon Gholston is one of the best defensive ends in Ohio State football history. He broke the single-season sack record in 2007, recording 14 sacks. He won the Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year in that season too.
Will Smith as the other defensive lineman was a no-brainer as well. He also won Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year in 2003 when he was a First-Team All-American. He was also named Second-Team All-Big Ten in 2002 when the Buckeyes won it all.
Cam Heyward was a really good Ohio State football player and is still killing it in the NFL. While with the Buckeyes, he was named First-Team All-Big Ten in 2010 before being a first-round pick the following season by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Hankins was only coached by Tressel for one season in 2010, but he still qualifies for this team. He was a First-Team All-American in 2012 when the Buckeyes went undefeated in the first year under Urban Meyer.
Now we name the linebackers, something the Buckeyes were known for under Tressel.