Lee Tressel

Lee Tressel
Biographical details
Born	February 12, 1925; Ada, Ohio, U.S.
Died	April 16, 1981 (aged 56); Berea, Ohio, U.S.
Playing career
1943–1944	Baldwin–Wallace
1946–1947	Baldwin–Wallace
Position(s)	Fullback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1950–1955	Mentor HS (OH)
1956–1957	Massillon Washington HS (OH)
1958–1980	Baldwin–Wallace
Head coaching record
Overall	155–52–6 (college); 70–20 (high school)
Tournaments	3–2 (D-III playoffs)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
	1 NCAA Division III (1978); 4 OAC (1968, 1977–1978, 1980)
Awards
	AFCA College Division Coach of the Year (1978); 5× OAC Coach of the Year (1968, 1974, 1977–1978, 1980)
	College Football Hall of Fame; Inducted in 1996 (profile)

Lee Tressel (February 12, 1925 – April 16, 1981) was a football coach and athletic director at Baldwin–Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. Tressel accumulated the most winning record as the head football coach at Baldwin–Wallace. His 1978 team won the NCAA Division III Football Championship, achieved National Coach of that year, and in 1996 was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Career

Tressel served as football coach and athletic director at Baldwin–Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. Tressel accumulated a 155–52–6 record in 23 seasons (1958–1980) as the head football coach at Baldwin–Wallace. His 1978 team won the NCAA Division III Football Championship and for his efforts, Tressel was named National Coach of the Year that championship season.

Before coaching at Baldwin–Wallace, Tressel was a successful high school head coach in Ohio, with stops at Ada High School, Massillon Washington High School, and Mentor High School. At Mentor, Tressel put together a 34-game winning streak, while compiling a 16–3 mark in two seasons at Massillon.

Tressel was married to Eloise Tressel, who worked as the athletic historian at Baldwin–Wallace. Tressel is the father of Jim Tressel, who was the head football coach at Ohio State University from 2001 through the 2010 season. Another son, Dick, was the head football coach at Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota for 23 seasons (1978–2000) and was later an assistant at Ohio State. Tressel was 56 at the time of his death from lung cancer.

Legacy

Panorama view of The George Finnie Stadium & Tressel Field

After Tressel's death in 1981 he was posthumously inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. On the south side of the Baldwin–Wallace campus in Berea, there is a "Tressel Street" named in his honor. At the corners where Tressel Street starts and ends, at Bagley Road and E. Center Street, lay decorative street signs in honor of Lee and Eloise Tressel for their contributions to the Baldwin-Wallace campus. In 2012, the Football Field at George Finnie Stadium was dedicated to the Tressel Family.

Head coaching record

College


Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs	AP^#	UPI^°
Baldwin–Wallace Yellow Jackets (Independent) (1958–1961)
1958	Baldwin–Wallace	4–4–1
1959	Baldwin–Wallace	4–4
1960	Baldwin–Wallace	4–3–1
1961	Baldwin–Wallace	9–0				2	2
Baldwin–Wallace Yellow Jackets (Ohio Athletic Conference) (1962–1980)
1962	Baldwin–Wallace	6–2	3–1	5th
1963	Baldwin–Wallace	6–3	3–2	7th
1964	Baldwin–Wallace	5–4	3–2	6th
1965	Baldwin–Wallace	4–3–1	2–3	10th
1966	Baldwin–Wallace	3–5	2–3	T–8th
1967	Baldwin–Wallace	5–3–1	1–2	9th
1968	Baldwin–Wallace	8–1	4–0	1st
1969	Baldwin–Wallace	7–1–1	4–1–1	3rd
1970	Baldwin–Wallace	6–3	2–3	8th
1971	Baldwin–Wallace	9–1	4–1	2nd
1972	Baldwin–Wallace	7–2	3–2	T–2nd (Red)
1973	Baldwin–Wallace	6–3	4–1	2nd (Red)
1974	Baldwin–Wallace	8–2	5–0	1st (Red)
1975	Baldwin–Wallace	7–2	4–1	T–1st (Red)
1976	Baldwin–Wallace	7–2	5–0	1st (Blue)
1977	Baldwin–Wallace	9–1	5–0	1st (Blue)
1978	Baldwin–Wallace	11–0–1	5–0	1st (Red)	W NCAA Division III Championship
1979	Baldwin–Wallace	8–2	4–1	T–1st (Red)	L NCAA Division III Quarterfinal
1980	Baldwin–Wallace	10–1	5–0	T–1st (Red)	L NCAA Division III Quarterfinal
Baldwin–Wallace:		155–52–6
Total:		155–52–6
National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth

References

External links