Jim Tressel, a former member of the Ohio State Buckeyes football coaching staff, was officially confirmed as the next lieutenant governor of Ohio on Wednesday.
In separate floor votes on Wednesday, state senators and representatives voted in favor of confirming Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s nomination of Tressel, which was announced on Monday.
The Senate vote was 31-1, while the House vote was 68-27.
After the appointment of Jon Husted, a Republican, to the United States Senate seat that was originally held by Vice President JD Vance, Tressel, who is 72 years old, takes up the position.
The year 2023 marked Tressel’s retirement from his post as president of Youngstown State University, which he had held since 2014.
In the past, he formerly served as the head coach of the football team at Ohio State University for about a decade. During that time, he guided the Buckeyes to a national championship in 2002 as well as six Big Ten championships.
After a controversy involving the exchange of artifacts for cash rocked the team in May 2011, he was put under pressure to leave the organization
In the years following his departure from Ohio State, Tressel held the positions of executive vice president for student success at the University of Akron and then president of Youngstown State.
Prior to his departure, Tressel had coached at both Akron and Youngstown State, first as a graduate assistant at Akron from 1975 to 1978 and then as the head coach at Youngstown State from 1986 to 2000.
In his capacity as lieutenant governor, DeWine has stated that Tressel will continue to be involved in the creation of education and workforce programs.
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