Tressel attended Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, where he was a member of the football and wrestling teams. He was named an Academic All-American in NCAA Division III for five seasons between the two sports. Tressel graduated in 1996 with a degree in mathematics.[4]
Coaching career
Early career
Tressel began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of South Dakota from 1996 to 1997. He received a master's degree in sports administration from South Dakota in 1998. He then served on the offensive staff at Wartburg College from 1998 to 2001. In 2002, he joined his father and uncle at Ohio State, where he was a graduate assistant assigned to linebackers under defensive coordinator Mark Dantonio. The 2002 Buckeyes team won that season's BCS National Championship Game, the 2003 Fiesta Bowl. In 2004, Tressel followed Dantonio to the University of Cincinnati, serving as linebackers and special teams coach. When Dantonio was hired to be the head coach at Michigan State University in December 2006, Tressel joined him along with seven other Cincinnati assistants.[4][5]
Michigan State
Tressel spent his first seven seasons with the Spartans as the linebackers and special teams coach. He was promoted to co-defensive coordinator (with Harlon Barnett) and linebackers coach after the departure of defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi in 2015. After Barnett was hired at Florida State in 2018, Tressel became the sole defensive coordinator.[6]