Ohio State will add former football coach Jim Tressel to its ring of honor at Ohio Stadium later this year.
The school announced Tressel’s induction will take place during the Buckeyes’ season opener against Ball State on Sept. 5.
Tressel is to join Paul Brown and Woody Hayes as the only coaches so honored at the Horseshoe. Their names are fixed in the southeast corner of the stadium’s C Deck.
“To be recognized alongside these men is truly humbling,” Tressel said in a statement.
He’s also the first addition to the ring of honor at Ohio Stadium since former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Troy Smith in 2014.
Tressel, who currently serves as Ohio’s lieutenant governor, coached the Buckeyes for 10 seasons and led them to a BCS national championship in 2002, a breakthrough for a program that had gone more than three decades without winning a title.
He went 106-22 over the 2001-10 seasons, including 9-1 against archrival Michigan. Twelve wins were later vacated due to NCAA sanctions for rules violations, including players exchanging memorabilia for cash and receiving tattoos. He resigned in 2011 amid concerns about his knowledge of the infractions.
Tressel, who also won four Division I-AA national titles at Youngstown State, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork also praised Tressel in a statement for the personal development of his players.
“What truly sets him apart is the way he led, taught, and served others,” Bjork said. “Coach Tressel built championship teams while developing generations of young men who went on to become leaders in their communities and professions.”
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com and follow him on @joeyrkaufman on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State to add former football coach Jim Tressel to Ohio Stadium ring of honor
Reporting by Joey Kaufman, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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By Joey Kaufman, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
