COLUMBUS, Ohio (WLIO) - Jim Tressel has won national championships in football, and now, Governor Mike DeWine wants the coach to become his second in command in the state.
DeWine has nominated the former Ohio State University and Youngstown State University head football coach to be the new lieutenant governor. Tressel was selected to fill the role vacated by Jon Husted, who was appointed to the U.S. Senate to replace Vice President JD Vance.
In addition to his coaching career, Tressel served as president of Youngstown State University for nine years before retiring in 2023. DeWine believes Tressel has the experience needed for the job.
Tressel was selected to fill the role vacated by Jon Husted, who was appointed to the U.S. Senate to replace Vice President JD Vance.
“His background in education, his background in workforce development, his background in economic development, all bode very, very well. He's going to do a number of things in our administration, and we'll be outlining those in the days and the weeks ahead, but certainly he's going to be involved directly with education. He's going to be involved with workforce development and how those, those two, those two come together,” says Gov. DeWine.
“We talked a lot with JobsOhio and the economic development regions and so forth, about all these wonderful opportunities that they've created for our state. I mean, it's this probably is not a greater moment in our state than we've had in hundreds of years with opportunities, and we really need to do a good job of getting that workforce to execute those opportunities, to find out what it is we need to do to take advantage of them,” says Jim Tressel, nominated to become lieutenant governor.
Tressel must be approved by the Ohio House and Senate before the appointment becomes official.
Senate President Rob McColley Statement on Nomination of Jim Tressel as Lt. Governor
COLUMBUS—Ohio Senate President Rob McColley issued the following statement regarding Governor Mike DeWine's nomination of retired Youngstown State University President and former Ohio State Buckeyes Head Coach Jim Tressel to be the next Lt. Governor of Ohio.
"I appreciate the Governor's nomination of President Tressel who has dedicated his career to guiding our youth on both the gridiron as a coach and in the classroom as a college president. I look forward to hearing more from Jim Tressel as the Senate carries out its confirmation duties as directed by the Ohio Constitution."
When the Governor nominates a person to fill the open position of Lt. Governor, the Ohio Constitution under Article III, Section 17a, requires both chambers to vote to confirm the nomination.
