Students huddle up around Professor Tressel.
View full sizeWhatever you do, don't tell the guy who teaches the twice-weekly class on coaching that the dog ate your homework.Columbus, Ohio -- You REALLY don't want to be late for one particular early morning, twice-a-week class at The Ohio State University. The professor has a history of making most of his students run laps or do push-ups or some other physical activity.
That's the expected, if the unexpected is that this particular professor is one Jim Tressel, the $3.5 million a year head football coach of the Buckeyes. Hannah Karp went to school on the old professor last week for a piece in today's Wall Street Journal. An excerpt:
Part of the draw is the novelty, of course: The 57-year-old is the only coach in major-college football who teaches an academic class during the season, and many simply sign up for bragging rights or to bask in the presence of a national celebrity.
But it's also irresistible to watch one of the country's most powerful, venerated and usually unflappable men panicking to get through a lesson plan, fumbling with a slide projector, cracking jokes about his ineptitude with technology and struggling to engage with students who care far less about football and OSU's sacred traditions than his usual hangers-on.
"The 'victory bell' rings two times—when we win, and when else?" Mr. Tressel, who makes about $3.5 million a year, quizzed the class last week.
"Third down?" guessed a student.
"Third down? No! At graduation," Mr. Tressel said.
It used to be standard issue for top coaches to teach: The late Woody Hayes, who led the Buckeyes to three national championships in his 28-year reign, schooled students on everything from English to World War II history. And most schools in lower divisions still require their athletic coaches to teach if they're getting paid full-time.
But as the business of college sports has ballooned, teaching coaches at the upper echelon have become a dying breed. In basketball, Temple's Fran Dunphy, who lectures on management, and UC Davis's Gary Stewart, who teaches ethical issues in college athletics, are among the only remaining Division I teachers.
One suggestion: Do your homework, do it right and do it on time because the Buckeyes can always use a new tackling dummy.