Ex-Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel Worries Transfer Portal Won’t Allow Growth Through ‘Toughness, Hard Times'
Former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel last coached a college football game more than a decade ago. In that span, the NCAA landscape - not just football - has changed more frequently than Oregon’s uniforms.
Most notably, student athletes can be paid for their name, image, and likeness (NIL), and they’re free to change schools as often (or more) than they change their underwear.
Sometimes that stinks.
Tressel, who coached the Buckeyes to the 2002 National Championship and Youngstown State to four I-AA titles, supports NIL and player movement but fears the Transfer Portal may have a negative effect on a player’s future.
"Going through the hard times is what builds you," Tressel recently shared when speaking with Cameron Heyward of the Pittsburgh Steelers during an episode of Tressel’s It’s all about the TEAM with Jim Tressel podcast.
Heyward nodded in agreement as Tressel suggested (correctly) that players have been leaving schools and will continue to leave schools if they don’t see the field right away.
This was rarely the case when Tressel was roaming the sidelines. Players could transfer, but would have to sit out a season before taking the field with a new team unless they transferred down a division.
Want to transfer from Nebraska to Oklahoma? See ya next year. Nebraska to Southern Illinois? Catch ya in the fall!
COLUMBUS, OH - NOVEMBER 20: Head coach Jim Tressel talks with wide receiver Santonio Holmes #4 of the Ohio State Buckeyes during a break in play against the Michigan Wolverines on November 20, 2004 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State upset Michigan 37-21. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
Ohio State Hired Tressel As Head Coach In 2001
Current Ohio State co-offensive coordinator/recruiting extraordinaire, Brian Hartline, who played for Coach Tress, is a player whom Tressel thinks benefited from the tough times of not having the option of the transfer portal.
"I remember Brian (Hartline) coming into my office (and saying), ‘Coach, I should be playing. You can’t redshirt me,’" Tressel told Heyward of the then-Ohio State freshman receiver.
Tressel continued: "I said, ‘Well, no Brian. You missed your senior year (of high school), you had a broken leg. But you’re going to be a really good player. ‘No coach, I’m better than those (other rostered) guys,’" Tressel recalled Hartline saying.
"You’re better than (future Super Bowl-winning wide receiver) Santonio Holmes," Tressel asked Hartline. "You’re better than Teddy Ginn? You’re better than Anthony Gonzalez? You’re better than Brian Robiskie?"
Hartline, who played seven NFL seasons, insisted he was better than all the players Tressel mentioned.
Jim Tressel Worries About NCAA Transfer Portal
"If there were a Transfer Portal at the time, Tressel told Heyward, "B-Hart would’ve left."
With the portal not an option, Tressel did what he thought was best for both Hartline and the program and redshirted the confident freshman while encouraging him to keep working hard and getting better.
Eventually, it paid off.
"He became a great receiver, (played in the) NFL. Now (he) is the offensive coordinator," Tressel added.
The ex-coach, alongside Heyward, questioned if Hartline would’ve grown into the receiver he was if he were able to bounce from school-to-school each time he was unhappy with the amount of targets or playing time he received in any given week or season like today’s college athletes. He also noted that Hartline wasn’t selfish, just confident.
"I worry that we’re not gonna have that ability for kids to grow," added Coach Tressel. "Through toughness. Through hard times. But I am happy that the players will finally get an opportunity to share in some of the spoils of that collegiate football has brought forward."
13 years after leaving Columbus, it's still obvious the vest knows best.
Follow along on X: @OhioAF