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They don’t call it the Buckeye State for nothing.
Former Ohio State University football coach Jim Tressel was nominated Monday to serve as the state’s lieutenant governor following the departure of Jon Husted for the US Senate.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Tressel, 72, would fill the vacancy left by Husted at a press conference, praising the 2002 national title winner for his “judgment” and “natural” leadership capabilities.
“He has the requisite skill sets. He has the criteria that I outlined. He knows Ohio,” DeWine said. “Jim Tressel, I trust his judgment. He is a born leader.”
Tressel, 72, had previously flirted with a Senate run after Republican Rob Portman retired in 2021, but will now have a leg up in the 2026 Ohio gubernatorial race with DeWine term-limited.
Former 2024 GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and state Treasurer Robert Sprague are also expected to vie for their party’s gubernatorial nomination.
Nicknamed “The Senator” for his distinguished appearance on the sidelines of Ohio Stadium, Tressel was one of the most successful coaches in the Big Ten school’s history, compiling a record of 106-23 between 2001 and 2010.
In addition to the 2002 national championship, in which Ohio State upset the heavily favored Miami Hurricanes in the Fiesta Bowl to cap a 14-0 season, Tressel’s Buckeyes won or shared seven Big Ten championships and reached two more title games under the Bowl Championship Series system.
Tressel was forced to resign ahead of the 2011 season after he admitted to being aware of NCAA rules violations by some of his players who improperly sold jerseys and other team memorabilia in exchange for free tattoos from a local parlor in Columbus.
The Justice Department and FBI had stumbled upon what later became known as Tattoogate as part of a probe into the owner of Fine Line Ink Tatoos and Piercings, Edward Rife, who had been laundering other money he made trafficking marijuana through his business.
Tressel went on to serve as the president of Youngstown State University, where had previously coached football from 1986 to 2000, winning four NCAA Division I-AA (now the Football Championship Subdivision) titles.
His nomination for the lieutenant governor slot will need to be approved by the Ohio state House and Senate.
After retiring from his YSU role in February 2023, Tressel said Monday he was ready to accept DeWine’s appointment to serve “a state that has been so special” to him and his family.
Husted, 57, is now serving as the junior senator from Ohio in the Senate until a special election in 2026.
That race will determine who will serve the remainder of Vice President JD Vance’s term following his election in 2022.
