'I wanted someone who knew Ohio': DeWine selects Jim Tressel as new lieutenant governor

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Former Ohio State football coach and Youngstown State president Jim Tressel is Gov. Mike DeWine's surprise pick to be Ohio's next lieutenant governor.

"He is a born leader," DeWine said. "He's a leader wherever he been, spent a great deal of his career working with young people and leading them."

The man chosen to be Ohio's newest second-in-command is a touchdown in the governor's playbook.

"This is really a humbling moment," Tressel said.

WATCH THE ANNOUNCEMENT:

The job came open when DeWine chose Jon Husted to fill the Senate seat vacated by JD Vance when Vance became vice president.

"My criteria, No. 1, the most important thing is someone who could serve as governor if something were to happen to me over the next 100 weeks," said DeWine. "Second, I want someone who can really contribute."

DeWine said he decided after visiting Tressel last week.

"He shares my values," DeWine said. "He has the ability to pull people together."

Tressel has strong Northeast Ohio ties, graduating from Berea High School and playing football for his father Lee at Baldwin-Wallace. He received a master’s in education from Akron in 1977.

Throughout Ohio, he is best known for coaching football and winning national championships at Youngstown State and Ohio State. He resigned in 2011 from OSU amid an NCAA, FBI and DOJ investigation into the so-called "Tattoogate," when OSU was sanctioned after numerous players allegedly received tattoos in exchange for autographs. Tressel denied involvement.

Since he left the gridiron, he has served in administrative roles at local colleges, most recently as the president of YSU.

DeWine said Tressel's background in education and workforce development helped him make the decision.

"I wanted someone who knew Ohio," DeWine said.

Tressel said he has a lot to learn but plans to focus on promoting the governor’s current education plans — and lead in a bipartisan fashion.

"Wanting to know what people are thinking, what is their perspective now and how can we come together with common ground," the former coach said. "That comes from giving on all sides."

To him, the fun of "building a team" comes from finding the greater good.

Tressel made a bridge between sports and education, something the governor may ask him to do again.

In his budget, DeWine announced that he wants to double the state’s gambling tax to help fund sports facility construction and create an education fund for kids. And I wondered what Tressel thought of the NFL teams asking for help.

RELATED: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine proposes money for Browns Stadium, public schools in $218B state budget

"LG Appointee, you like football right?" I asked Tressel, after which he told me to call him "Jim." "What do you make of the Browns and the Bengals wanting state money to update their stadiums? What do you think about that?"

Before he could respond, the governor gave a playful warning about me and my questions.

"Well... I thought it was a pretty good thing about some of the proceeds that could go to some of the student activities, I think it's worth a good conversation," Tressel responded. "But yeah, I do like the Browns and the Bengals."

DeWine joined in, adding that under his plan, a "significant amount of money would go through K-12."

"Jim would certainly, if the legislature agrees with that, he certainly would be involved in us putting a plan together," the governor said.

Tressel's name will now be sent to the legislature for confirmation.

"I appreciate the governor's nomination of President Tressel who has dedicated his career to guiding our youth on both the gridiron as a coach and in the classroom as a college president. I look forward to hearing more from Jim Tressel as the Senate carries out its confirmation duties as directed by the Ohio Constitution," said Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon).

The House also needs to approve the appointment.

"I had the honor of working with Jim Tressel during his time as President of Youngstown State University, and I look forward to having conversations with the Caucus about the Governor’s nomination of Jim for Lt. Governor of Ohio,” Speaker Matt Huffman said in a statement.

Leadership

It's not just DeWine who thinks Tressel will be a good leader. While at OSU, Tressel recruited cornerback Doran Grant from St. Vincent - St. Mary High School.

"He's highly educated, but at the end of the day, as a politician, he's truly a man of the people," Grant said.

Although Tressel never was able to coach Grant due to the aforementioned Tattoogate, Grant said that the coach's legacy remained positive.

"Honestly, I thought he was going to be president at some point," the former player said.

It had been speculated for years that Tressel would run for governor. The former coach is just focusing on being lieutenant governor, he said during the press conference.

The governor said that the two men have not discussed whether Tressel would or should make a run for the governorship in 2026 when DeWine must retire due to term limits.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is already in that race on the Republican side, with former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy preparing to dive in later this month.

Former Ohio Health Director Dr. Amy Acton is running as a Democrat.

GOP strategists have reached out to say they believe this is a smart way for DeWine to have a more moderate leader as his successor.

Tressel aligns with the governor on many issues and knows Ohio well, as well as the "values" Ohioans have, DeWine said.

Due to past statements from Ramaswamy about education reform, DeWine may want to safeguard some of his legacy from the would've-been chair of the Department of Government Efficiency — which is currently run by tech mogul Elon Musk and a slew of teenagers and new college grads.

"I want someone who kind of shared my vision for the state of Ohio, and that is that we want everyone to live up to their God-given potential," DeWine said. "I want someone who would focus on education."

Not only does Tressel accomplish DeWine's goals, he will likely protect the governor's education initiatives like Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Ohio, and he has great name identification in the state.

"He has the ability to lead," the governor said of Tressel. "He will enable me to be assured that if something happens to me — he can walk in and be governor that day."

Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.