Jim Tressel named president at Youngstown State

Jim Tressel beat Miami to win a national title at Ohio State and defeated archrival Michigan nine times.

But this, really, beats all.

Youngstown State, pending final contract approval, on Friday named Tressel as its new president.

Not president of the football team, mind you, president of the university.

Wow, was Maurice Clarett not interested?

What next, former coach Jackie Sherrill being named president of Texas A&M?

Tressel resigned as Ohio State coach in 2011 in the aftermath of a major scandal in which Buckeye players were bartering memorabilia for tattoos. Tressel acknowledged he became aware of these potential violations but failed to report them to the NCAA.

Ohio State president Gordon Gee initially suspended Tressel only two games but assured the public the coach’s job was not in jeopardy.

“Are you kidding?” Gee said in April 2011. “I’m just hoping the coach doesn’t fire me.”

Less than two months later, though, on Memorial Day, Tressel was asked to resign under mounting pressure. He left on the eve of a Sports Illustrated story that would detail problems in the program going back to 2002.

The NCAA hit Ohio State with major penalties, including a one-year postseason ban, in December 2011. Tressel was issued a five-year “show-cause” which virtually eliminated him from coaching in college again until 2016.

The penalty, obviously, did not prevent Tressel from becoming a university president. After leaving Ohio State he worked for the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts and then as vice president at Akron.

Tressel returns to Youngstown State, where he led the football team to four Division 1-AA national titles from 1986 until 2000.

Tressel’s tenure at Youngstown was also tainted by NCAA trouble after the quarterback on his 1991 national title team admitted accepting $10,000 in benefits from a former chairman of the Youngstown State board of trustees.

The NCAA faulted Tressel and the school for initially doing a cursory investigation of the allegations but he was not cited for wrongdoing.

Tressel went 106-22 in 10 years at Ohio State, winning the national title in 2002. However, 10 wins from the 2010 season were vacated by NCAA violations.