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For most of July, recruiting news has dominated the headlines for Ohio State football in 2026.
The story was much the same 25 years ago.
Jim Tressel had not coached a real game for the Buckeyes yet, but he was putting together a class that would not only be crucial to his program’s long-term success but go down as one of the best in Ohio State history.
That is the focus of this edition of Tressel Tales from Cus Words Sports.
A run on talent
Starting in late June, Ohio State picked up seven verbal commitments from prospects across Ohio as chronicled by Buckeye Sports Bulletin.
The first was T.J. Downing, an offensive lineman from Canton GlenOak.
Hamilton defensive back E.J. Underwood went next followed by Doug Datish, an offensive lineman from Warren Howland.
Then came Centerville linebacker A.J. Hawk followed by Jay Richardson, a defensive lineman from Dublin Scioto, Nordonia offensive lineman Rob Sims and Kettering Alter offensive lineman Nick Mangold.
Downing was maybe the most noteworthy as his father was Walt Downing, who was an All-Pro offensive lineman for the San Francisco 49ers… after he had an All-American career at Michigan.
“We have always followed Michigan a lot, and my dad had a very good career there, but I’ve liked the Big Ten, in general, and really Michigan wasn’t the place for me.”
Papa Downing agreed.
“Just because I went to Michigan and had a high level of success doesn’t automatically mean he’d follow in my footsteps. T.J. is a a very mature kid. He wants to cut his own path.”
Meanwhile, Datish was an Ohio State legacy. His dad, Mike, was an offensive lineman for Woody Hayes in the 1970s, but that did not mean Doug was an automatic Buckeye.
Like Downing, the younger Datish looked into other schools. That included an unofficial visit to Colorado that could have gone better.
“Everything was great except the plane ride there. The plane caught on fire. We had to make an emergency landing in Kansas. It was a lot of fun.”
Datish ultimately committed because he liked Tressel and offensive line coach/offensive coordinator Jim Bollman.
The run on commits brought the count to 10 for the class of 2002, but even at that time there was a sense maybe the most important one was already in the fold.
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Get to know Maurice Clarett
The July issue of Buckeye Sports Bulletin also included a feature on a big running back from Northeast Ohio named Maurice Clarett, who made no bones about the fact he chose Ohio State because of Tressel.
Although he was from Youngstown, Clarett played at Warren Harding for legendary coach Thom McDnaiels.
“That was a big part of me deciding to go to Ohio State because Coach McDaniels and Coach Tressel have a lot of similarities in the way they coach and the way they do things. The main thing is they treat no one different. They create everybody the same from the last person on the depth chart to the first person.”
Listed at 5-11, 223 and reportedly able to bench 395 pounds, Clarett was considered a premium prospect despite missing time as a freshman at Austintown Fitch and during his sophomore and junior seasons at Harding because of foot and lower leg injuries.
He expressed confidence he would be at his best for his senior season after having surgery to remove a bone chip and realign his tibia and fibula, injuries that lingered because of a reticence to have surgery earlier in his career.
“I’ve really forgotten about the surgery, but people put bad words by my name and say, ‘He’s always hurt,’ and that’s the main thing that gets me.”
Nonetheless, he had a believer in McDaniels, who led Canton McKinley to a state and mythical national championship in 1997 with future Buckeyes Mike Doss, Kenny Peterson and Jamar Martin in the lineup.
“I think he may be the best combination of speed and power and quickness at running back I’ve coached. Having been at Canton McKinley for 20 years, that’s a pretty remarkable statement because we’ve had some awfully good running backs, over there. He’s an unusual combination of all three. He can make a guy miss, he can outrun guy or he can run you over.”
Sounds promising, at least if he can stay healthy, right?
Not done yet
As BSB went to press, Tressel and his staff were reported to be in good shape for several more high-profile Ohio recruits.
That included Mike D’Andrea of Avon Lake, Piqua defensive lineman Quinn Pitcock, Lancaster linebacker Bobby Carpenter, Lynhurst Brush receiver Roy Hall, Canton McKinley defensive back Tyler Everett and Medina Highland linebacker Mike Kudla.
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Prospects for first season on the field
As for the current team, the cover story of that BSB focused on the possibility Tressel’s first team could be an immediate hit.
“It’s Been Done Before” read the headline with perspective from Earle Bruce, who was not only Tressel’s former boss but also happened to go undefeated in his first season as head coach at Ohio State in 1979 despite being picked to finish fifth or sixth in the Big Ten prior to the season.
“I knew after spring we were going to be better than that. It didn’t surprise me that we had a good football team. A lot of people picked Michigan State, bug we clobbered them. I thought we had a good nucleus and a lot of speed. I don’t know what Jim has left.”
In contrast to Bruce, the first seasons for the other two coaches hired since 1950 did not go so well.
Woody Hayes went 4-3-2 in 1951 while John Cooper went 4-6-1 in 1988. Both lost to Michigan.
Bruce was the second first-year Ohio State coach since 1930 to win a Big Ten title, joining Carroll Widdoes, who went 9-0 and finished second in the Associated Press poll (this team is sometimes known as the civilian national champion since a powerful Army squad finished No. 1).
Widdoes was in a unique position as he replaced Paul Brown after Brown was drafted into the Navy.
That’s all for this edition of Tressel Tales, but if you like what you see, please hit that subscribe button above (it’s free!). That will assure you get the next edition of this series, which I started in January to recap Jim Tressel’s first season as head coach at Ohio State.
If you want to find more of my work, I am also a columnist for PressProsMagazine.com, the basketball insider for the new BuckeyeInsiders.com and a regular contributor to BuckeyeSports.com, among other places!
Check back this week for the next edition of my regular roundup This Week in Ohio State Football.
