During tonight’s 30 for 30 The U: Part 2, we were subjected to all sorts of little truth nuggets. One of which came within the first five minutes of the program while the subject was the hiring of Butch Davis.
Davis said he knew that he probably wasn’t one of the first choices the University of Miami had on their wish list, but he was very grateful the other coaches they interviewed had turned the university down.
From the graphic on the screen, we knew the finalist for the job were Butch Davis (def. coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys), Sonny Lubick (Colorado State head coach) and Gary Stevens (off. coordinator for the Miami Dolphins).
The one we didn’t see on that list, but Davis claims turned down the job?
Jim Tressel.
It would make sense for the U to reach out to Tressel, right? To that point he had been head coach at Youngstown State University for the previous eight or so years and had just won his second National Championship with the Penguins. He was already the D-II coach of the year three times (’91, ’93, ’94). What more could he have accomplished at the lower level?
Well, as it turned out, another 51 wins and another National Championship. So maybe he knew what he was doing when he turned down the Hurricanes?
Because as we already know, in 2001 Tressel accepted the head coaching position at The Ohio State University and in just his second year with the team, won the 2002 National Championship against….
The Miami Hurricanes.
Talk about full circle, huh?
