Jim Tressel Is Proud To Serve Ohio Once Again With New Fitness Initiative

Jim Tressel’s new initiative is in full swing. The former Ohio State Head Coach was nominated to fill the Lieutenant Governor position this winter and has been traveling to schools around the state to talk about the Team Tressel Fitness Challenge.

The fitness initiative is designed to raise awareness about the importance of mental and physical exercises and the impact they can have on the well-being of children. Schools that opt in will receive a workbook with different levels, including bronze, silver, and gold.

Students are expected to complete the exercises and move up the ranks. I had the chance to sit down with Tressel at my alma mater to discuss his new role as well as the importance of this new initiative. 

Tressel spoke on his vision for this new initiative and how he expects it to grow beyond his term. “We want to learn from it and see what we can do better,” Tressel said. “We want to see what the response is. We hope to learn a bunch. We have 183,000 kids involved, and we have to keep talking about fitness.” Tressel says over 800 schools have already opted into the challenge.

Lieutenant Governor Tressel began his presentation with a video for the students, which explained what the initiative is all about. Tressel then picked volunteers from the crowd and had them demonstrate some of the exercises listed in the workbook. Tressel’s motivation and positivity were a driving factor, and you could feel the excitement about the fitness boom around the gymnasium as Tressel encouraged the other students to root for their peers.

Becoming a Head Coach and working in politics was not always the dream for Tressel, when asked what it means to serve his home state for so many years, Tressel added, “It’s surreal, I wanted to be a math teacher, but one thing led to another and in 25 years I’ve been a head coach at Ohio State and Youngstown State, and a VP at Akron. Governor Dewine had an idea, and it has been a blessing.”

Tressel is embracing his new role as Lieutenant Governor and is committed to making Ohio a better state. The Team Tressel Fitness Challenge is off to a great start, and I expect the former Ohio State head coach to do great things.