BEREA, Ohio — Jim Tressel is officially coming home.
The Hall of Fame college football coach and Mentor native has been named to the Board of Trustees at Baldwin Wallace University, the school announced Monday. Tressel played quarterback at BW in the 1970s under his father, Lee, and graduated with a degree in education.
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"We are proud and happy to welcome the wise counsel of one of BW's most accomplished alumni," Baldwin Wallace Board Chair Lee Thomas said in a statement. "We're grateful for the wealth of experience Jim brings to his alma mater as we begin to write the next chapter in BW's 179-year history."
Tressel recently wrapped up a nine-year stint as president of Youngstown State University from 2014-23, however he is best known in Ohio for his illustrious head-coaching career, officially winning 229 games across 25 combined seasons with YSU and Ohio State. Tressel also guided the Penguins to four NCAA Division I-AA national championships and the Buckeyes to the 2002 BCS title, the iconic program's first No. 1 ranking in 32 years.
Though NCAA violations forced Tressel out at OSU in 2011, he was still elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015, and football fans in the Buckeye State have long forgiven him for his mistakes. With his coaching career over, Tressel's focus shifted back to his educational roots, working briefly as a University of Akron administrator before taking over as head man at Youngstown State.
Tressel's ties to the Berea community are also deep, having graduated from Berea High School before playing for the Yellow Jackets, leading them to an 8-2 record and Ohio Athletic Conference Championship Game berth in 1974. Four years later, head coach Lee Tressel took BW to an 11-0-1 record and the NCAA Division III national title, a feat he accomplished less than three years before his death from cancer in 1981. He was posthumously inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1996, 19 years before his son Jim joined him.
"Thanks to BW — especially the faculty, staff, and my classmates — who provided me the opportunity for a great education," Tressel wrote Monday. "Due to the exceptional preparation at BW, I was blessed to enjoy a 47-year career in higher education. As I accept the honor of serving on the BW Board, I am certain that my mom and dad would be proud that I seek to serve their beloved Yellow Jackets."
Baldwin Wallace's Board of Trustees sports more than 40 members, the vast majority of whom have degrees from the university.
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