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.

Lee Tressel
Biographical details
Born(1925-02-12)February 12, 1925
Ada, Ohio, U.S.
DiedApril 16, 1981(1981-04-16) (aged 56)
Berea, Ohio, U.S.
Playing career
1943–1944Baldwin–Wallace
1946–1947Baldwin–Wallace
Position(s)Fullback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1950–1955Mentor HS (OH)
1956–1957Massillon Washington HS (OH)
1958–1980Baldwin–Wallace
Head coaching record
Overall155–52–6 (college)
70–20 (high school)
Tournaments3–2 (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)
OAC Coach of the Year (1968, 1974, 1977–1978, 1980)
College Football Hall of Fame
Inducted in 1996 (profile)

Career

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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

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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

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College

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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

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