Jim Tressel Quotes (167 Quotes)


    I don't know if I'd use the word 'sandlot' (about Ginn), ... or maybe it's a good word. It's just, you know, fun. Every play can be a touchdown.

    He looked like he did the whole spring, comfortable and patient. That's a big guy with the ability to accelerate. We're very pleased with him.

    We think Santonio Holmes is a great player, ... Early last year, he was about the only guy that was making plays for us. The people we played against saw that and put more attention on him. Some of our young guys then got a little more involved and that eased the burden off Santonio a little bit. If we can get to the point where we can recognize that he is being singled, we need to go to Santonio Holmes, because from a receiver standpoint he's top-notch.

    If revenge becomes a factor, I'm afraid you lose sight of what it is that you're trying to square away, ... It's our performance that we need to square away, but all of us have lived with our lack of performance that day. You would hope that that serves as added incentive to do better.

    What we philosophically are going to do, if we can pull it off, is have a home-and-home with a team of great interest to our fans. Every other year we can have eight home games and the year that we travel, have seven.


    I suppose when I was here 20 years ago, I don't remember much discussion about anything other than winning the Big Ten and winning the Rose Bowl.

    It was along the lines of hoping he would have a chance to get things together and make a run at things with NFL Europe. NFL Europe is for folks with some ability to get an opportunity. And as I said the last few times people have brought up the subject, my hope would be that he would have an opportunity to go over to NFL Europe and make a comeback.

    I just hope he gains the draft status he is capable of gaining.

    The environment at the Fiesta Bowl, from the time you land until you play the game, is extraordinary. There are wonderful memories when you walk into that stadium. I think our guys are going to relish that feeling and enjoy every moment of that.

    Antonio has the tools and the skills, and he is gaining the experience every day,

    I think the recruiting process, with all the Internet interviews and people checking up to see what things are said about them on the Internet, I think it's distracted young people a little bit. I'm not sure it's what they should be keeping their closest eye on, but I understand when someone's talking and you're one of the subjects, you're a little bit interested.

    I've said many, many times that if you have two quarterbacks capable of being champions, you have a chance to be a champion, ... I think we have that.

    We thought we could make some big things happen. The offensive assistants had a tremendous plan and our guys executed it so well.

    When there's a little hole there, it's nice to go straight ahead. When there's another jersey, the instinctive part of any fast guy ... is maybe run sideways once too often. But that's the instincts fast guys have, that they can run around enemy jerseys. But you see a hole, hit it. That's what Teddy did.

    I thought he was very efficient. . . . His distribution was good,

    We've said for years that if you can run well, you'll be able to do a lot of things well. We did a much better job in the run game and then that opened up opportunities to throw it well.

    Justin was very efficient, even though he had the one play that we all wish he had back. Outside of that play I thought he was very efficient.

    When you have to play extra people in the box to stop his run it's going to leave you a bit vulnerable to the pass. I thought he played hard. He kept getting hit and beat up and kept coming back. And his team won.

    When you're at Ohio State or Texas, the expectations can't go any higher. There is an immediate flurry of business commitments you have to fulfill, but things pretty much stay the same.

    For his first time out, I thought Troy did some good things, ... I am sure there are some plays he would like to have back, but the only way to get better is to get in there and play as many snaps as possible.

    I think it's very exciting. It gives college football a great jump-start into the '05 season. We have the good fortune that a lot of people know who we are and who the Longhorns are.

    We always say the spring game is mostly fun because you've been working hard and now you get to compete. Any time you keep score, you'd like to win. It's probably a little more impact than a normal spring practice. But they (the players) all know we've got 29 practices ahead of us before we line up for real against Northern Illinois.

    I guess that says something about how much attention should be paid to recruiting rankings. What's made A. J. so special is that he doesn't really pay attention to what anyone says about him, whether it's good or bad. He just goes about his business and works hard and tries to get better every day, and that's why you see the results from him over time that have made him one of the best to ever play here.

    What we philosophically want to do is schedule games that are of great interest to our fans. Maybe the best pro of these games is it's something our players will remember for a lifetime. They'll cherish these memories.

    I would have preferred that he had gotten some live snaps and some live butterflies (last week), but that's not the case. As soon as he gets hit by one of those white helmets, he'll be ready to go.

    That's a discussion you have at times, but I'm not sure that would interest me. I like being involved.

    You hope for the best. Guys come and set goals and they want to become very, very good the best at what they do. When you're picked in the first round that's a pretty good indication.

    We think we're capable of winning every game. It's disappointing. We didn't get this one done. And we have to get after it next week.

    There is something special about this Fiesta Bowl. There is no doubt about it.

    You get to a couple moments where you have to make the play to make a difference. We just didn't do that. They came out and did the things that championship teams do. We did not come out and do the things you need to do to be Big Ten champion.

    I love his intensity. I love his detail. Hes on top of every single thing. But maybe most important, I love the way his guys play, and thats a tribute to his staff.

    In this day and age, you have to be able to attack with a lot of different things. Because people are so well-schooled on defense, you have to give them more options.

    Occasionally, all of us, I'm sure, think back to, gosh, if I would have called a different game ... we might have beat Texas. But you better not spend too much time thinking about those things. Once you get into conference play, the guys are looking hard to see who beat who and who do we have next and what have we got to do. I think their focus is very good.

    What was impressive about Chris (in the spring game) is that he looked like he did all spring -- comfortable, patient, a big guy with the ability to accelerate. But he knows we have other good backs and he's going to have to compete.

    I don't have a whole lot consternation about it. I've been here five years and can tell you exactly what our record was those five years. But I can't tell you where we ranked in recruiting. Having a top 10 class validates you a little bit, but until the players come in and do anything you're not truly validated.

    I think remembrance of how good you better be because you have to play a lot better than the last time you played them. If revenge becomes a factor, I'm afraid you lose sight of what it is that you're trying to square away. It's our performance that we need to square away, but all of us have lived with our lack of performance that day.

    It's the stuff of someone who worked last summer, as well as the byproduct of his running ability. When you put people into the box to stop his run, ... there are times the pass will be vulnerable.

    We're anxious to get into Big Ten play. I think the Big Ten is going to be a very, very tough conference this year. As you look at everybody from side to side and throughout the conference, they've had some tough ball games, they've had some great wins. I just think it's going to be a very strong league, and we start out with an awfully strong one with the university of Iowa. They're a physical football team. They have dropped a game, but they didn't have their quarterback that day. They're just an outstanding team as they've shown over the years, and we have to be ready to compete.

    What's most important is that the quarterback takes what the defense gives and not make up his mind before maybe which it's going to be,

    We feel like we've got some guys, we'd like to get the ball in their hands. Plus, we also think that if you can prove that you can do a good job throwing it, there aren't quite as many people in the box when you are trying to run it. Then I think when you add the quarterbacks into the run package, that's another bit of pressure you can put on the opposing defenses. So you'd like to be able to do it all, and I think that's why you see so many people doing it, and specifically the guys that we've got that are capable of making things happen when we deploy that way.

    This is a tough defensive football team that he's going to face in a tough environment, and it's a great challenge for him and a great challenge for the guys that will be on the field at the same time with him, and we certainly hope that he can continue to be efficient, make good decisions and so forth, but that's what Saturday is for -- to find that out,

    There's something special about playing in the Fiesta Bowl, no doubt about it. The seniors have done so much here (becoming the first group to win four bowl games and tying a school-record with 43 wins as a class), I wanted to make sure we sent them out a

    I would question whether he'll play. You know, I've seen miracles before, so I'm not going to say for sure he won't. He was running around there last night, I thought, interestingly well, but not in the scheme of things. I don't know if he'll dress or not.

    Teddy is a terrific weapon and we want to get the ball in his hands as often as possible, ... The majority of his play will come on offense, but he gets a great break on the ball so there will be times in the red zone where we will utilize him on defense, too. With Maurice Hall (the school's all-time leader in kick return yardage) gone, we will use him on both punt and kick returns. He and Santonio (Holmes) give us two very dangerous weapons back there.

    Troy did some realy good things, ... We'll go back and watch the film. I'm sure there will be lots of things that we need to do a little bit better. But I think every time you're out there making decisions, you learn a little bit more. Troy progressed and that's what we hoped for.

    He's a competitor, he was excited out there and he wanted to make up for time missed. We felt that based on preparation and what we're doing, both (quarterbacks) could contribute to a win. As it turns out, when we put the film on, that very well could have happened. But it didn't.

    What you saw out there was total domination by the defense. After that first play, our defense was in complete control. Obviously, that pleases me. I am not as pleased with our offensive showing. We need to become much more consistent in order to be a good team. We made too many mistakes out there,

    A lot of the games I've watched over the years, the unnoticed things are that 3rd-and-7 play where there's bracket coverage and everyone was tied up, and that quarterback ran for a first down and changed the momentum of the game. So we don't discount the importance of that, but you have to do things in progression. I just think Troy needs to be a little bit better from his progression standpoint.

    There really was no grade consistent enough to say, 'Hey, this person was player of the week,' ... It was a lack of consistency, not that anyone did horribly, but no one did out of this world.

    Most growth is through adversity. You've got to fight a little bit to grow.


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