Ohio State to enshrine Jim Tressel in Ring of Honor on Sept. 5Adam RittenbergJun 23, 2026, 12:27 PM ETClose
- College football reporter; joined ESPN in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University.
Former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel will be enshrined in the Ring of Honor at Ohio Stadium when the team opens the 2026 season Sept. 5 against Ball State.
Tressel, who coached Ohio State from 2001 to 2010 and led the Buckeyes to a national title in 2002, will join Woody Hayes and Paul Brown as the only Buckeyes coaches to appear in the Ring of Honor, which lines the C-deck at the stadium. He will be the first person to be enshrined since 2014, when Ohio State recognized his former quarterback Troy Smith, the 2006 Heisman Trophy winner. Tressel’s placard will appear next to that of Hayes, who led Ohio State from 1951 to 1978.
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The 73-year-old Tressel became lieutenant governor of Ohio in early 2025. He went 106-23 at Ohio State with six Big Ten titles and a 9-1 record against archrival Michigan (his final win in 2010 was later vacated by the NCAA). Tressel, a College Football Hall of Fame inductee in 2015, also won four Division I-AA national titles as Youngstown State’s coach from 1986 to 2000.
At Ohio State, he coached 67 NFL draft picks, including 14 first-round selections, and 24 first-team All-Americans. Ohio State surprised Tressel with the Ring of Honor selection Tuesday, at an event attended by several of his former Buckeyes players.
“Growing up in Ohio, Ohio Stadium was about as special a place as there could be for a Buckeye fan,” Tressel reported in a statement. “Then, when you have the privilege of spending so many years on the field as a coach, you never really think about something like this. You just try to honor the tradition, respect the responsibility that comes with it, and do your very best each day. I grew up admiring Paul Brown and Woody Hayes, and they both meant so much to our family. To be recognized alongside these men is truly humbling.”
.@LtGovJimTressel taking it all in for the Ohio Stadium Ring of Honor Surprise 🌰 🥹 pic.twitter.com/E6NtE6WnqG
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) June 23, 2026
Tressel resigned as Ohio State’s coach on Memorial Day 2011 amid an NCAA investigation into improper benefits received by several players in 2010 from the owner of a Columbus tattoo parlor. Ohio State was forced to vacate all 12 of its wins from the 2010 season. The team received a postseason ban in 2012, and Tressel, accused by the NCAA of withholding information and lying to investigators to keep players on the field, received a five-year show-cause order.
He did not return to coaching following the scandal and entered university administration, first at Akron and later at Youngstown State, where he served as president from 2014 to 2023.
“What truly sets him apart is the way he led, taught, and served others,” Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork reported in a statement. “Coach Tressel built championship teams while developing generations of young men who went on to become leaders in their communities and professions. His commitment to excellence and the student-athlete experience helped define an era of Ohio State football and strengthened the values that continue to guide our department today.”
