New Buckeye coach wants
familiar results at Ohio State
Editor's Note: This is part four of a 10-part
series examining every football team in the Big Ten other than Purdue.
The Purdue Preview Tailgate Guide will appear Aug. 31.
By Paul Trembacki
Sports
Editor
When the Big Ten football coaches met earlier this
month at the Big Ten Conference Kickoff Luncheon in Chicago, the oldest
coach in the conference played a practical joke on the newest.
Joe Paterno, in his 36th season as coach at Penn
State, told Jim Tressel, set to enter his first season as coach at Ohio
State, that it's a custom for rookie coaches to stand up and talk for
a half an hour about their coaching philosophy and tactics. Tressel
panicked.
"There I was about to spew out all my secrets.
Then Joe grinned a little bit and I knew," Tressel said.
 It
was an odd predicament for Tressel, who has always admired Paterno and
most of the coaches in the Big Ten, but he knew that the ruse was meant
to initiate him into a select group.
"I have such respect for these guys and I've learned
a lot from them over the years," Tressel said. "Now to be with them
is great."
Tressel knows, however, that he must show more
than an ability to joke with Big Ten coaches; he has to compete with
them.
Tressel's competitive nature was part of what made
Ohio State name him the program's 22nd head coach this January. After
coaching the running backs, quarterbacks and receivers at Ohio State
from 1982 to 1985, Tressel spent the last 15 seasons at Youngstown State,
an NCAA Division I-AA school in Ohio. The Penguins won four national
titles and placed second twice during Tressel's tenure.
In Ohio State, he inherits a team that went 8-4
last year but lost its last two games — 38-26 at home against Michigan
and 24-7 to South Carolina in the Outback Bowl on New Year's Day. Those
last two losses led to the firing of Joe Cooper, who lost to rival Michigan
five of the last six seasons.
Tressel didn't waste time trying to improve his
new team. According to senior fullback Jamar Martin, the winter conditioning
program at Ohio State was the hardest in a long time.
"Coach Tressel really took charge of it," Martin
said. "It was fairly tough, but I think it's what we needed — that
type of strain — to improve."
Martin said he's been impressed with Tressel's
approachability and said the 48-year-old coach is "like a minister"
because players hear him preach, but they can talk to him off to the
side as well.
"His honesty has impressed me," Martin said. "When
coaches and players can interact, that's a component of a successful
team."
Tressel has no shortage of experienced players
— Ohio State returns six starters on both sides of the ball.
The defense will be led by safety Mike Doss, a
first team All-America selection last year as a sophomore. In 2000,
his first year as a starter, Doss had three interceptions, three sacks
and a team high of 94 tackles. This year the junior is a candidate for
the Thorpe Award, given to the nation's top defensive back. He'll also
return kicks for the first time.
Senior linebacker Joe Cooper was a third team All-America
selection last season, and he will lead a three-man linebacker corps
that lost no one to graduation.
On offense, junior quarterback Steve Bellisari
will start for the third straight season. After passing for as many
interceptions as touchdowns (13) last season, Bellisari spent this spring
working more on his mental skills than his physical attributes.
"Decision-making is the key to playing quarterback,"
Tressel said. "Steve has worked hard, practicing and watching his tapes
to get better."
Bellisari will have LeCharles Bentley, a second
team All-Big Ten selection last season, at center, leading an offensive
line that returns three starters.
Ohio State is ranked No. 23 in the Associated Press
preseason poll, and the media picked the Buckeyes to finish third in
the conference behind Northwestern and Michigan.
"Coaches talk constantly about how preseason rankings
don't mean much," Tressel said. "You focus so hard on where you are
and where you need to be. I'm trying hard to learn about Ohio State
and how we can get better. We're working hard every day to get better
and we're not concerned about the polls."
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