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Former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel is set to become Ohio’s next lieutenant governor.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine nominated the national championship head coach who also won six Big Ten titles with the Buckeyes to serve in the post for the remaining two years of his term, DeWine announced on Monday.

Tressel’s nomination now goes to the Ohio House and Senate for approval. The ex coach hopes to replace former Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted, whom DeWine picked to fill the senate seat left vacant by JD Vance’s ascension to the Vice Presidency.

“He has the requisite skill sets. He has the criteria that I outlined, he knows Ohio,” DeWine said, per the AP. “Jim Tressel, I trust his judgment. He is a born leader.”

Tressel resigned from Ohio State amid scandal in 2011 and eventually became president of Youngstown State University, where he coached from 1986 to 2000. The university raised $150 million during his 10 years at the helm. He retired in 2023.

Tressel will focus on education and workforce development during his tenure, DeWine said.

With DeWine forced into a term-limited retirement after his current term, the AP reports he has not discussed with Tressel the possibility of him running for governor.

Former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel pledges ‘singleness of purpose’ as lieutenant governor

The Ohio General Assembly still needs to confirm Tressel, but Republicans hold commanding majorities in both chambers, and, as DeWine is also a Republican, the process is likely a formality.

“This is really a humbling moment,” Tressel said. “I believe in our governor and what he believes in. I promised for the next 699 days to have a singleness of purpose and singleness of focus, which is to serve the needs that the governor outlines.”

DeWine added that he found he shared values with Tressel and trusted him to help uplift the state.

“I wanted someone who shared my values, Ohio’s values. Someone who can pull people together. I want someone who shares my vision for the state of Ohio and that is we want everyone to live up to their God-given potential,” he said.

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Though Tressel, who called his nomination a “surprise, for sure,” has never held office, he has long been rumored as a candidate for various positions. He was twice a rumored US Senate candidate and told BuzzFeed in 2021 that he was “too busy here at YSU to run for the Senate.”