Regular visitors of notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL, and MLB. Once that is done, we will examine how each team honors its past players, coaches, and executives. We will eventually extend that to the major universities, and thus it is important to us that Ohio State will be honoring Jim Tressel as a member of the Ohio Stadium Ring of Honor this September.

Tressel first coached at Ohio State from 1983 to 1985, where he was the Quarterbacks/Running Backs coach, but he departed for the Head Coach job at Youngstown State, where he coached from 1986 to 2000, taking the Penguins to four Division I-AA Championships.  He made a triumphant return to Columbus following the 2000 season, and for the next decade, Tressel was among the top coaches in college football.

In the ten years he coached Ohio State, the Buckeyes compiled a scintillating 106-23 record, peaking with a 2002 NCAA Championship win with a Fiesta Bowl win.  He also led the school to four other bowl wins (2003 Fiesta, 2004 Alamo, 2009 Rose, and 2010 Sugar) and, in eight separate campaigns, finished with a top-ten ranking.

Tressel was suspended in 2011 for failing to notify the NCAA about violations by his players. The scandal snowballed and would eventually force Tressel to resign later that year.  Regardless of the scandal, Tressel remained a beloved figure in Ohio, and this accolade is long overdue for many Buckeyes fans.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Jim Tressel for his impending honor.

One of the most successful Cornerbacks in Ohio State history, Antoine Winfield was an All-American who won both the Jim Thorpe Award and Jack Tatum Trophy in 1998, which propelled him to a First Round Pick where he landed in nearby Buffalo.

The Bills used him as the third Corner as a rookie, but he was a starter thereafter and showcased his elite tackling and man-to-man coverage skills over the next four seasons.  Winfield started as a Bill, but it was in Minnesota purple that he became a star.  He signed with the Vikings in 2004, where he his versatility shone through.

Winfield was a Viking from 2004 to 2012, where he had 21 of his 27 Interceptions.  He also had a three-year run of Pro Bowls (2008-10), which included a Second-Team All-Pro in 2008. He had always been a physical player, but in the late 2000s, he finally got his due.

Winfield retired after the 2012 Season with 1,054 Tackles and an imprint on everyone he delivered them to.

The San Diego Chargers took Ohio State Buckeye Offensive Lineman, Jim Lachey, 12^th Overall in 1985, and he would be plugged in immediately as the Bolts’ starting Left Tackle. 

It is not a stretch by any means to state that Nick Mangold was the greatest New York Jet Center ever.  We could easily go a step further and state that he is one of the best Offensive Lineman in franchise history.