The Senator is now The Lieutenant Governor.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Monday that former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel will be the new lieutenant governor of Ohio.
Moments ago, I signed the nominating commission letter to send to the Ohio General Assembly for Jim Tressel to be Ohios next lieutenant governor. pic.twitter.com/GGrea7cbvt
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) February 10, 2025
Tressel replaces former lieutenant governor Jon Husted, who became a U.S. Senator for the state of Ohio when former senator J.D. Vance became the vice president of the United States in January.
Tressel becomes the lieutenant governor after most recently serving as the president of Youngstown State University, a role he held from May 2014 until his retirement from that role in February 2023.
Tressel said his wife, Ellen, encouraged him to take the lieutenant governor job when DeWine asked him if he would.
“She said, ‘It sounds like God has more work for you to do. And you know we owe just about everything in our blessed lives to the state of Ohio.’ And she said, ‘If the governor thinks you can help in the state of Ohio, we should consider it,’” Tressel said. “And I always do what Ellen says. So we began the conversation.”
DeWine said he got to know Tressel during his time as Youngstown State’s president and felt that Tressel fit all the criteria he was looking for in a lieutenant governor.
“I wanted someone that knew Ohio ... I wanted someone whose judgment I felt was very, very good,” DeWine said. “I wanted someone who was a leader. Someone who is used to making decisions. Someone who listens, weighs the different options and then comes to a conclusion. I want someone, frankly, who shared Ohio values – my values, Ohio’s values. Someone also, though, who could pull people together.”
Asked if he would consider running for governor when the office comes open again in 2026, Tressel said his focus is on working with DeWine for the next 699 days.
“I remember about 25 years ago, I said to a group in Columbus that I had my sights set on 310 days later, and that was my singleness of focus,” Tressel said, referencing his famous speech at an Ohio State basketball game about beating Michigan after he was hired as Ohio State’s head coach. “Now I have a 699-day singleness of focus.”
A native of Mentor, Ohio, Tressel was Ohio State’s head football coach from 2001-10, leading the Buckeyes to a national championship in his second season as coach in 2002. Across 10 seasons leading the Buckeyes, Tressel went 106-23 with a 9-1 record vs. Michigan.
Tressel resigned as Ohio State’s coach in 2011 after it was found that he did not report NCAA violations committed by his players during the “Tattoo-Gate” scandal. After spending the 2011 season with the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts as a consultant, Tressel stepped away from coaching to become a university administrator, spending two years as Akron’s vice president of strategic engagement before becoming the president at Youngstown State, where he led the Penguins to four FCS championships before becoming Ohio State’s coach.
