The University of Akron on Thursday morning announced the hiring of former Ohio State University football coach Jim Tressel to a vice president’s position.
He will be in charge of “strategic engagement” for the university and will be paid a base salary of $200,000.
Tressel played a key role in the search for a football coach that led to the hiring of Terry Bowden and since then has remained in touch with university officials, said UA President Luis Proenza.
It was after those discussions, Proenza said, that he began talking to Tressel about returning to UA.
“Our vision for student success was exceptionally aligned,” Proenza said.
Tressel, who earned his master’s degree in education at UA and was once part of the Zips football coaching staff, said it is nice to come home.
“I am excited to be a Zip,” he said.
He said met with UA students before the press conference.
“It is great to come back to the place that gave me my first chance,” he said.
Tressel, according to media reports in Columbus, sold his Upper Arlington home recently. He recently was under consideration for a coaching position with the Indianapolis Colts.
“When Jim Tressel and other alumni assisted us in our search for a football coach last December, we began to engage in dynamic conversations about Jim’s professional goals outside of athletics,” Eileen Korey, a university spokeswoman, said in a prepared statement before the press conference.
