No one knows the state of Ohio football better than Ohio State head football coach Jim Tressel. Wrapping up his fifth season with the Buckeyes, Tressel has been a head college coach in the Buckeye state for 20 years. In addition, he played at Baldwin-Wallace, and was an assistant coach at Akron, Miami University and Ohio State. In all, Tressel has been directly involved with college football in Ohio for 33 of the past 35 years.

In his 20 seasons as head coach, Tressel has established a strong reputation in college football. He has compiled a 185-70-2 record, winning over 72% of his games. He has coached five national championship teams, and been named national coach of the year on five occasions.

On January 18, 2001, Jim Tressel was named the 22nd head coach in OSU history. In just five seasons since, he has compiled a 50-13 record, with two co-Big Ten titles, and a scintillating run to the 2002 national championship. The Buckeyes also enjoyed a 19-game winning streak, and three BCS bowl wins under Coach Tressel's tenure. Coach Tressel and the Buckeyes have now won three of the last four BCS bowl games.

The double-overtime win in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl was one of the most exciting games in college football history. It capped the first ever 14-win season in Division I history, and gave Ohio State its first (and first undisputed by a Big Ten school) national title in 34 years. The Buckeyes won seven games that season, including the last four, by seven points or less.

Beating the defending champion Miami Hurricanes in that final game was itself an incredible feat. Coached by former Buckeye assistant Larry Coker, Miami had won 34 straight games entering that Fiesta Bowl, and was heavily favored to repeat. For his efforts throughout the 2002 season, Tressel was named national coach of the year by six different organizations, including the American Football Coaches Association, the Football Writers Association of America. The Bobby Dodd and Paul "Bear" Bryant National Coach of the Year awards also were bestowed upon Tressel.

Since becoming OSU head coach in 2001, eight players have been named first-team All-American under Tressel, and 23 others earned first-team All-Big Ten honors. Four (LeCharles Bentley-2001 Rimington Award; B.J. Sander-2003 Ray Guy Award; Mike Nugent-2004 Lou Groza Award; A.J. Hawk-2005 Lombardi Award) captured major college individual honors, and 30 more were selected in the NFL Draft, including a record 14 in 2004.