Jim Tressel's candidacy for two university president jobs in Northeast Ohio is about to go public.
Tressel, who's worked at the University of Akron for the last two years after 10 years as Ohio State's football coach, is among the final three for open presidential jobs at Akron and at Youngstown State, where he was head football coach from 1986-2000.
He's the third of the three candidates to spend an official visit day at Akron on Thursday, where he'll take part in a public forum in the campus student union starting at 1:30 p.m.
He is scheduled to take part in a similar forum on the YSU campus at 2 p.m. Monday inside the Board of Trustees meeting room. Tressel's visit will be the first of the three scheduled for next week at YSU.
There were 19 applicants for the job at Akron, where retiring president Dr. Luis Proenza officially exits June 15. The YSU search is down to three from an initial pool of 37 who applied to replace Dr. Randy Dunn, who resigned after just seven months on the job. In both instances, Tressel is the only finalist who does not hold a Ph.D. and does not come from a background of various university administrative jobs.
In a statement released through Youngstown State in mid-April, Tressel said: "I am respectful of the presidential search process underway at both Youngstown State University and The University of Akron. Both University communities are a very meaningful part of my professional history. I feel grateful that people from both University communities have expressed interest in my application. I believe it's appropriate that I not comment any further during this part of the process."
Tressel, 61, was Youngstown State's head football coach from 1986-2000, taking the Penguins from 2-9 in his first season to three Div. I-AA national championships before leaving for Ohio State. He was the Ohio State coach for 10 years, winning a national championship in 2002, before he was forced out in May 2011 in the aftermath of a memorabilia scandal.
Tressel was promoted to executive vice president at the University of Akron last December, his third promotion in 19 months.
In a January radio interview in Columbus, Tressel said he was at a moment in his life "where there are a lot of things swirling around," with Proenza retiring and the football coaching carousel then in full swing.
