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Ohio State Football: Jim Tressel Earns Historic Honor · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Buckeyes Tomorrow morning for Wednesday, June twenty fourth,
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  Speaker 1: I'm your host, Tom or the ball State game in
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  Speaker 1: seventy three days, the game against Michigan in one hundred
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  Speaker 1: and fifty seven days, thanks to our friends at Jeff
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  Speaker 1: Ruby's Columbus, the award winning Upscale steakhouse in downtown Columbus
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  Speaker 1: name one of the top fifty stackhouses in America by
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  Speaker 1: Food Network. Just go to jeffruby dot com slash Columbus
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  Speaker 1: or scan the convenient QR code on your screen right
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  Speaker 1: now to check out the menu and make a reservation today.
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  Speaker 1: All right, So we start every single one of these
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  Speaker 1: shows with a countdown to whatever Ohio State's next game
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  Speaker 1: is and the countdown to the Michigan game. That is
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  Speaker 1: something we've done since we started this show a million
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  Speaker 1: years ago. So why do we do that? Well, that
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  Speaker 1: all goes back to a speech given by a James
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  Speaker 1: Patrick Pressel in January of two thousand and one where
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  Speaker 1: you got up at the Shottenstein Center at halftime in an
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  Speaker 1: Ohio State basketball game against Michigan and gave a speech
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  Speaker 1: that was a nice speech. Everyone kind of remembered it,
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  Speaker 1: and he talked about how you'll be proud of our
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  Speaker 1: young people in the classroom, in the community, and most
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  Speaker 1: especially in three hundred and ten days in an arbor,
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  Speaker 1: Michigan on the football field. And then whatever he said
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  Speaker 1: after that, no one heard it because everyone else is
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  Speaker 1: going ballistic. So that was kind of one of this
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  Speaker 1: signature moments of Ohio State football for quite a while.
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  Speaker 1: And then of course they went and beat Michigan in
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  Speaker 1: three hundred and ten days later in Nurburn, Michigan. So
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  Speaker 1: I thought, okay, that's a fun bit for a morning show,
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  Speaker 1: so we'll do that. But that is the impact of
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  Speaker 1: Jim Tressell on the Ohio State football program, among many
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  Speaker 1: other things. And now Jim Trussell going to be honored
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  Speaker 1: this fall and to get inducted into a very very
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  Speaker 1: exclusive club at the first game of the season, very
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  Speaker 1: exclusive club. Also guests on the Buckeyes Tomorrow Morning podcast
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  Speaker 1: will welcome Tony Gerdaman back for that. Once again, we
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  Speaker 1: should probably account up of how many times you've been
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  Speaker 1: a guest on this show. It has been probably more
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  Speaker 1: than three hundred and ten over the years. Tony. Let
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  Speaker 1: people know what is Jim Trussell going to be inducted
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  Speaker 1: into this fall.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Ohio State has announced that Jim Trussell will be
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  Speaker 2: joining the Ohio Stadium Ring of Honor. He will have
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  Speaker 2: his name up in Ohio Stadium alongside Woody Hayes and
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  Speaker 2: Paul Brown as the only other Ohio State coaches to
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  Speaker 2: have that, and so a pretty special honor and a
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  Speaker 2: pretty special place over one hundred years old Ohio Stadium
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  Speaker 2: as we know it, And so he'll be up there.
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  Speaker 2: That will happen on the season open during the season
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  Speaker 2: opener September fifth against Ball State. So he will be
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  Speaker 2: on hand, the Lieutenant Governor of Ohio on hand, the
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  Speaker 2: only I presume the only lieutenant governor to have his
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  Speaker 2: name in Ohio Stadium. I haven't gone back and looked
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  Speaker 2: at all of the Wikipedia pages for all of the players,
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  Speaker 2: but yeah, a great honor for him and one that no,
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  Speaker 2: I guess I hadn't thought about it, you know, in
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  Speaker 2: terms of you see what he's name up there in
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  Speaker 2: Paul Brown, and it's like those two guys have a
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  Speaker 2: special place for different reasons. But you know why not, Jim.
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  Speaker 1: Tressel, Right, It's one of those things where Paul Brown,
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  Speaker 1: wood He Hayes, those just kind of got put up there,
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  Speaker 1: and you know, I remember when they put the ball
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  Speaker 1: one up and it's like, oh, it's special, it's interesting.
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  Speaker 1: But he's just he's sort of a name that you
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  Speaker 1: just sort of have been told about. You've read about
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  Speaker 1: Paul Brown in books, You've read about Woody Hayes in books.
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  Speaker 1: But Jim Tressel is actual living history. Neither of those
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  Speaker 1: guys was around when they got their names put up there.
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  Speaker 1: Jim Tressel is and you know those are guys who
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  Speaker 1: are exclusive exclusive. You know, that's an exclusive, exclusive club
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  Speaker 1: where you know, more coaches have won national championships at
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  Speaker 1: Ohio State. More coaches have been inducted into the College
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  Speaker 1: Football Hall of Fame out of Ohio State than have
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  Speaker 1: gotten put up in the stadium. But you know, when
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  Speaker 1: you look at Jim Tressel's place in Ohio State football history,
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  Speaker 1: you know, Woody Hayes obviously had his place. You had
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  Speaker 1: the Era Bruce era after that, you had the John
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  Speaker 1: Cooper era after that, where which is where Ohio State
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  Speaker 1: football sort of started to modernize. But man, Jim Tressel
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  Speaker 1: really kind of took that next step. When's the first
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  Speaker 1: national championship in thirty four years, nineteen sixty eight to
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  Speaker 1: two thousand and two. We all know nineteen seventy count
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  Speaker 1: it's fine, don't at me. But he also, you know,
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  Speaker 1: a big part of his bio is completely changed the
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  Speaker 1: dynamic of the rivalry against Michigan.
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  Speaker 2: Going from two ten and one under John Cooper to
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  Speaker 2: nine and one under Jim Tressel and gave an Ohio
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  Speaker 2: State fans such an air of ownership over Michigan that
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  Speaker 2: sometimes the wins, not that they lost meaning, but that
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  Speaker 2: they became a little bit of assumed and presumed and
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  Speaker 2: not taken for granted of maybe, but just turned something
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  Speaker 2: that seemed so frustrating and so bewildering to something that
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  Speaker 2: was nature is healing type of thing, that that whole thing,
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  Speaker 2: but then went beyond that and miracle grow all over
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  Speaker 2: this thing. And Ohio State went and just one games
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  Speaker 2: that they sometimes shouldn't have, and we're able to, like
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  Speaker 2: the two thousand and five game at Michigan being down
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  Speaker 2: i don't know, eleven points or something in the.
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  Speaker 1: Last nine nine points in the fourth quarter, yep.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and we're able to have two drives there at
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  Speaker 2: the end. The two thousand and four game in Ohio
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  Speaker 2: Stadium where the twenty fourteen was not very good, and
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  Speaker 2: they went and had a comfortable win against Michigan, and
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  Speaker 2: and then Tressell did get the good fortune of being
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  Speaker 2: there for the rich Rod years, which was beneficial, but
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  Speaker 2: just a complete domination of Michigan and then you know,
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  Speaker 2: continued skipped a beat, you know, with with Luke Fickle
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  Speaker 2: barely and then continued on with Urban Meyer. But it
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  Speaker 2: was one of those things that just felt so overdue.
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  Speaker 2: And then when he as you mentioned the introductory speech
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  Speaker 2: and in the basketball game, just saying I'm not backing
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  Speaker 2: down from Michigan. I'm going to put it out there.
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  Speaker 2: And it was something that everybody wanted to hear, and
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  Speaker 2: everybody bought in. So I'm not unlike Kurt Signetti where
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  Speaker 2: people just bought in without seeing anything. And in that
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  Speaker 2: two thousand and one win over Michigan, I think is
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  Speaker 2: that's where it was really like, Oh so he's not
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  Speaker 2: just talk. This isn't just talk, this is this is
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  Speaker 2: real now.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, that was an Ohio State team that went into
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  Speaker 1: that game six and four. I think at that point
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  Speaker 1: that was when it was still in a eleven game
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  Speaker 1: regular season, because I believe they finished seven and five
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  Speaker 1: that year, but yeah, they went in like six and four,
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  Speaker 1: and Michigan was not a great Michigan team, but they
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  Speaker 1: were pretty good Michigan team. And Ohio State had not
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  Speaker 1: won in an Arbor since nineteen eighty seven at that point.
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  Speaker 1: And they go up there and Jonathan Wells scores three
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  Speaker 1: touchdowns in the first half, and they have that bad
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  Speaker 1: snap past Jermaine Gonzalez and it's twenty three to nothing
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  Speaker 1: at halftime, and that is as surprised as I have
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  Speaker 1: been by a halftime score. I was there. I was
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  Speaker 1: on the roof of the press box kind of looking around,
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  Speaker 1: like what is going on? This is not what I
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  Speaker 1: had been to the previous couple trips to ann Arbor
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  Speaker 1: as a student, and it was like, this has not
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  Speaker 1: been my prior experience in the in the the greater
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  Speaker 1: ann Arbor area in terms of Ohio State football. So yeah,
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  Speaker 1: it was it was a big change there. You mentioned
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  Speaker 1: the two thousand and one team wasn't very good then,
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  Speaker 1: and fourteen wasn't very good. But since that twenty fourteen
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  Speaker 1: there's been like one Ohio State team that was not
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  Speaker 1: very good, and that was the year after Jim Trestle.
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  Speaker 1: Other than that, John Cooper certainly raised the national status
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  Speaker 1: of the program and turned it from you know, sort
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  Speaker 1: of faded former power at the end of the Earl
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  Speaker 1: Bruce era and the start of the Cooper era to okay,
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  Speaker 1: back to national power. They finished number two in the
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  Speaker 1: country a couple times, ninety six and ninety eight, but
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  Speaker 1: then you'd have the bad years too. Ninety nine, they
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  Speaker 1: had a bad year two thousand and had a bad year.
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  Speaker 1: Since two thousand and four, they really, other than the
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  Speaker 1: one year in two thousand and eleven, have just not
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  Speaker 1: had a bad year. It feels like that was sort
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  Speaker 1: of Jim Tressel. So I mean not just by sheer
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  Speaker 1: force of will or great coaching, It was sort of
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  Speaker 1: the program on the whole. He sort of really modernized
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  Speaker 1: it in a way where it sort of drought proved
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  Speaker 1: almost the Ohio State football team.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and there's there was more of a i don't know,
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  Speaker 2: maybe like an adoption the the culture of the whole
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  Speaker 2: thing in terms of building that foundation and really working
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  Speaker 2: on that foundation. And as you said, the only reason
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  Speaker 2: there was a bad year was the NCAA came in
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  Speaker 2: and removed some of their players, specifically to El Prior.
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  Speaker 2: But if he's there in twenty eleven, they're not going
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  Speaker 2: six and seven. I can guarantee you that. But just
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  Speaker 2: the ability to you're recruiting Ohio, that's never going to change.
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  Speaker 2: But he went he went national, as did John Cooper,
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  Speaker 2: but it was just like a stronger foundation and a
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  Speaker 2: more I don't know, maybe a more committed approach to
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  Speaker 2: making sure that everything stays level headed, because at the
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  Speaker 2: end of the Cooper era, the level headedness was gone.
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  Speaker 2: And frankly, you know every year there are questions about
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  Speaker 2: is this guy going to make it? Academically is that
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  Speaker 2: guy going to make it? And I think maybe there's
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  Speaker 2: more investment, and that's not just Trestle, but that's maybe
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  Speaker 2: Ohio State as well. Investment and all of the other
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  Speaker 2: ancillary things, the support stuff that John Cooper would have
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  Speaker 2: loved to have but maybe didn't. But Jim Trussell also
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  Speaker 2: did things like started Carmon Ohio singing Carmon Ohio after
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  Speaker 2: the games. Just stuff like that I remember him doing.
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  Speaker 2: His team would have to know everybody, all of the
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  Speaker 2: other their teammates. You'd have quizzes on say like where
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  Speaker 2: is Andy Groom from and what is his high school
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  Speaker 2: football team and things like that, so you'd have to
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  Speaker 2: know everybody, and that brings you all closer together. So
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  Speaker 2: I thought he did a lot of things like that
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  Speaker 2: to just bring the culture together, and then then it
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  Speaker 2: just continued on and it continued to grow from there.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that's one of the reasons Ohio State
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  Speaker 2: has been recession proof is just the the Ohio State
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  Speaker 2: culture aspect of it. The talent is talent's been there forever,
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  Speaker 2: maybe the mid to late eighties not so much, but
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  Speaker 2: just everything else, and then trestle kind of just you know,
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  Speaker 2: brought it all closer together. And I won't say got
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  Speaker 2: more out of it, because you know, that two thousand
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  Speaker 2: and one Michigan game is a perfect example of Jim
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  Speaker 2: Tressel in a nutshell. They go and they're destroying Michigan
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  Speaker 2: and then you're holding on at the end for dear
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  Speaker 2: life because they went into trestle ball. So but overall,
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  Speaker 2: just he brought Ohio State forward and left it in
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  Speaker 2: a good spot for the next person, which is what
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  Speaker 2: I think the goal for every head coach should be.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the Jonathan Wells ankle injury two thousand
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  Speaker 1: and one Michigan game played a part in that as well.
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  Speaker 1: You wonder what that would the second half would have
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  Speaker 1: looked like otherwise. But you know, the other thing that
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  Speaker 1: I think is part of the Trestle legacy, and boy
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  Speaker 1: does it look different than it did in twenty ten
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  Speaker 1: twenty eleven is the end of the Trestle era, which
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  Speaker 1: at the time was being treated as the greatest scandal
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  Speaker 1: in the history of college football. And you've got the
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  Speaker 1: SI cover and all that kind of stuff, and now
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  Speaker 1: a bunch of the stuff that was at the very
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  Speaker 1: core of the greatest scandal in college football history, it's
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  Speaker 1: all legal. You can do that stuff now. You can
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  Speaker 1: all the stuff that the players were in trouble for,
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  Speaker 1: and that Tressel got in trouble for, you know, misleading
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  Speaker 1: the NCAA about that is all Legal's that's now stuff
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  Speaker 1: you can do. It's fine. The coach can know about it.
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  Speaker 1: It's not a problem at all, you know. And you know,
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  Speaker 1: times have changed quite a bit, and perceptions on a
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  Speaker 1: lot of the stuff has changed a little bit, and
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  Speaker 1: I think that probably helps this be something that you
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  Speaker 1: can do and you can honor him, and that probably
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  Speaker 1: removes a little bit of the national sort of smirking
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  Speaker 1: or sneering at the fact that you're putting you know, this,
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  Speaker 1: this terrible NCAA criminal up in your ring of honor.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think everybody has a brand new perspective where
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  Speaker 2: they gained a new perspective. Uh, we've talked before, basically
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  Speaker 2: after the the Penn State stuff, then it's like, oh,
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  Speaker 2: football stuff, isn't so bad that that is happening? And
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  Speaker 2: so then now that everything, like you said is is
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  Speaker 2: like the idea of trading something like that's that's so
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  Speaker 2: backwards now, like you know you're gonna you're gonna trade
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  Speaker 2: something for something rather than just getting something for who
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  Speaker 2: you are. That is so old fashioned. And so what
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  Speaker 2: are you gonna do punish him for being old fashioned?
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: I don't driving is model T forward around town and
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  Speaker 2: it's too loud and it's too slow, so you pull
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  Speaker 2: them over. Like all I think all of that is
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  Speaker 2: you know that that's that's by the wayside, and you
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  Speaker 2: can continue to recognize him for what he did and
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  Speaker 2: what he built and what he handed off to essentially
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  Speaker 2: Urban Meyer.
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  Speaker 1: So there you go. Jim Tressel being honored at the
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  Speaker 1: Ball State game season opener in seventy three days. As
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  Speaker 1: we tell you at the start of every show, we'll
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  Speaker 1: have coverage of that when that happens. But one more
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: thing to look forward to at the start of Ohio
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: state football season, something you can always look forward to
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: is a dinner at Jeff Ruby's Columbus. They probably offer
• 13:31
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  Speaker 1: to check out the menu and make a reservation today.
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  Speaker 1: That will do it for today. Thank you guys all
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  Speaker 1: for joining us. Have a great day. We'll talk to
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  Speaker 1: you tomorrow.