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The former Ohio State coach, who resigned in disgrace last May amid a cash-for-tattoos scandal at the football powerhouse, was hired by Akron on Thursday as vice president of strategic engagement – a position created for him.
Tressel will earn a base salary of $200,000 per year, more than $3 million less than he made during the past of 10 years guiding the Buckeyes. Tressel will begin his new job on May 1.
“I feel fortunate that I got this opportunity,” Tressel said following a packed news conference.
In his new position, Tressel, who said he has no interest in coaching in the NFL, will work with Akron’s students, alumni and community organizations on a variety of issues. Tressel will not have any direct involvement with the school’s athletic department, one of the conditions of the five-year, show-cause sanction he received from the NCAA following an investigation.
However, Tressel’s name alone is sure to give Akron, with an enrollment of 29,000, a major boost in visibility and will certainly help in recruiting athletes and other students.
Akron president Luis M. Proenza said he had no misgiving about hiring Tressel, who was an undergraduate assistant for the Zips in 1975 and earned his master’s degree in education from the school in 1977.
“Look at the man. Look at what he has done,” Proenza said. “Look at the thousands of lives he has impacted. We knew that was the asset. The opportunity. And we wanted that to be available.”
Tressel, wearing a navy blue blazer and gold ties – Akron’s colors – and a tie with a logo of the school’s Kangaroo mascot, said he has no regrets regarding his role in Ohio State’s fall, but he did acknowledge wishing he had handled some things differently.
LA. TECH BACK DIES
Louisiana Tech running back Tyronne Duplessis, who played in two games this season while trying to come back from a knee injury that sidelined him for 2010, was found dead at his off-campus apartment in Ruston, La.
The cause of death will be determined after an autopsy. Ruston police Lt. Tim Parker said authorities are not investigating at this time and are awaiting the coroner’s report.
EXTRA POINTS
Mike Smith is leaving West Virginia to return to the New York Jets, just two weeks after he was named an assistant coach on defense for the Mountaineers. … A majority of students – 73.9 percent – at the University of Houston voted in support of a $45-per-semester service fee to help pay for a new football stadium and renovations to its dilapidated basketball arena. … Former Illinois head coach Lou Tepper is taking over as Buffalo’s defensive coordinator.
