Would Jim Tressel have led Ohio State to a 2024 title? Plus Tavien St. Clair vs. Bryce Underwood: Mailbag

Doug answers some subscriber questions, including which former Buckeye he'd add to this team.

Jim Tressel at the 2024 Ohio State-Michigan game. Could he have coached the Buckeyes to a national title last season? (Photo courtesy of Ohio State)

COLUMBUS — We’ll have a huge Q&A premium show on Wednesday, thanks to the great questions sent in by subscribers. There were so many, we couldn’t fit them all in. So I’ll answer a few of them here as well. If you like this, we’ll make written mailbags a regular part of the plan here. If you don’t like this, you can tell me to cram it.

Would last year’s team win the title still if Jim Tressel was the coach? — Dominic

Ahh, nothing like setting me up to discuss the possible shortcomings of a legendary and beloved coach to kick things off.

Tressel theoretically could still be coaching the Buckeyes. He wouldn’t be the oldest coach in major college football — he’s 72, and North Carolina’s Bill Belichick is 73, and you’ve seen HOW WELL THAT IS GOING.

Belichick replaced Mack Brown, who’s 74 and was forced out after last season. I think Brown and Tressel are reasonable contemporary comparisons for each other. So this idea isn’t fantastical.

Imagine an alternate universe where Tressel is in his 25th season leading the Buckeyes, which would still trail Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz for the longest current tenure in the game. Ferentz is tied with Woody Hayes for the most Big Ten wins by a coach, but Tressel would have crushed that record by now. The conversation would be about Tressel sticking around long enough to tie Hayes’ 28 seasons leading Ohio State

And I don’t think you would like the state of the Buckeyes.