COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine named Jim Tressel the new lieutenant governor on Monday. Jim Tressel is best known for his time spent as a head football coach at both Youngstown State University and Ohio State University. Tressel went on to be the president at Youngstown State for years.

What You Need To Know

  • Gov. Mike DeWine named Jim Tressel as the new lieutenant governor on Monday

  • Tressel is best known for his time spent as the head coach at both Youngstown State University and Ohio State University as well as his time as the president at YSU

  • There are mixed reactions regarding his path to becoming a politican

Tim Tyrrell, the head football coach at Archbishop Hoban High School, said he wasn’t surprised when Tressel entered politics.

“He just has the ability to lead more than most people I’ve ever been around,” Tyrrell said.

Tyrrell played for and coached alongside Tressel at Youngstown State in the 90s. He said he doesn’t know how Tressel’s coaching style fits into his new role, but knows his leadership does.

“As a coach he always did the best thing for his student athletes. As a president he did the best thing for all the students at Youngstown State. As a politician, he’s going to do the best thing for the people of Ohio,” Tyrrell said.

Case Western Reserve University political science professor, Justin Buchler, said Tressel’s path to politics is unusual.

“Effective politicians require several skills. The first thing that we would like them to have is some sort of policy expertise. And the ways to develop policy expertise are to study policy directly or to be involved in policy making through experience in politics,” Buchler said.

Buchler said he doesn’t see many similarities between being a football coach or a university president and being a state leader.

“One of the dangers we want to avoid is to assume like job A is like job B. Different career paths, different professions, can be different and just scrounging for a similarity at the surface level can lead to very misleading conclusions,” Buchler said.

Bill Johnson, Youngstown State’s current president and Tressel’s direct successor, said he can’t think of anyone more qualified for the role.

“Politics is all about leadership and Jim Tressel has got leadership characteristics in spades. From integrity to his intellect, his ability to bring people together regardless of which side of an issue they might be on,” Johnson said.

Johnson explained that Tressel has experience working with legislators, businesses and the community during his time as president at YSU and that it’s going to help him in the new role.

“You don’t get the kind of success trek record that Jim Tressel got without having a lot of innate skills. He ran this institution first class, so again, I think those that are underestimating him, standby and watch. I think he’s going to be tremendously successful,” Johnson said.

Tressel’s nomination must be confirmed by the state legislature.