Bucks pick Tressel to replace Cooper

COLUMBUS (AP) - Youngstown State's Jim Tressel, a winner of four Division I-AA national championships, will get his chance at the big time as the 22nd Ohio State head coach.

Tressel accepted the job yesterday, said Jack Rall, chairman of the Ohio State Athletic Council.

Tressel succeeds John Cooper, fired on Jan. 2 after Ohio State lost 24-7 to South Carolina in the Outback Bowl. Cooper was 111-43-4, shared three Big Ten titles and played in bowls in 11 of his 13 seasons.

But he was 3-8 in those bowl games and was just 2-10-1 against Ohio State's chief rival, Michigan. Tressel's Youngstown State teams won national titles in 1991, 1993, 1994 and 1997 - the most for a head coach in NCAA Division I-AA history - and had 12 winning seasons.

Athletics director Andy Geiger told The Associated Press the interview process was over but he would not confirm or deny there was a decision. He said the new coach will be introduced today at 4 p.m. in Ohio Stadium.

Tressel, 48, has spent the last 15 seasons at Youngstown State. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach at Ohio State under Earle Bruce (1983-86).

Tressel, 135-57-2 (.701) with the Penguins, also served as the school's athletics director. He has racked up wins and captured trophies, but has never been a head coach in Division I-A.

After Oakland Raiders coach Jon Gruden joined Oregon's Mike Bellotti in dropping out of contention, Tressel and Minnesota coach Glen Mason appeared to be the finalists. Tressel toured the campus Tuesday and Mason followed suit yesterday.

Geiger took both men to meetings with Ohio State president William Kirwan and an advisory committee set up to screen candidates. Mason said his meeting with Kirwan went "great."

In an interview last week with The Associated Press, Tressel said the pressures at a Division I-AA program were different from those at a Big Ten power - but were pressures nonetheless.

"At Youngstown State right now, we're supposed to win 15 games in a row and we're supposed to have 20,000 people happy in the seats and a half-a-million people in our market happy," he said. "At Ohio State, you're supposed to win 12 straight games and keep 98,000 people happy in the stands and 13 million people in the state of Ohio happy. Both are pretty hard."