Grid Insider: Meet Mike Tressel & Dave Warner
12/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 8, 2006
Mike Tressel
Special teams and linebackers coach Mike Tressel comes from a bloodline of successful coaches and has been a part of championship football programs. He is the nephew of Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel, and Mike's grandfather, Lee Tressel, won a Division III national championship and was one of the winningest coaches in that division at Baldwin-Wallace College. Mike's father, Richard, is currently in his sixth season as running backs coach at Ohio State, and his brother, Luke, is wide receivers coach at Minnesota.
Tressel served for three years under Mark Dantonio at Cincinnati, and was a graduate assistant at Ohio State for two seasons, where he helped contribute to the Buckeyes' National Championship in 2002. Tressel was a four-year starter in the secondary at Cornell (Iowa) College, and twice earned Academic All-America honors. Tressel recently met with the media and talked about recruiting and his coaching lineage.
On the first week on the job . . .
I'm very excited to be here but it was a crazy week. It all happened fast. Once Coach Dantonio made his decision, it happened that much quicker for us. It was a no-brainer type of decision. It seems that everything's in place for the guys to have success. So I'm excited to step in and get it going.
On the Tressel football family . . .
My uncle is Jim Tressel; he's the head coach at The Ohio State University. My dad, Dick Tressel, is the running back coach there at Ohio State, and then my brother, Luke Tressel, is the wide receivers coach at Minnesota, so we'll be beating each other up. I hope to be doing more of the beating; I want to be the hammer, not the nail you know.
On getting into the profession of coaching . . .
It was interesting. I tried not to because it seems like coaches always tell their kid, `don't be a coach, it's crazy, you're never stable, it's a crazy profession, so don't coach.' In college I was a math major, and it must have been about my senior year, I said I don't want to sit behind the same desk for 45 years, and the next thing you know, I'm coaching and boom. The thing about it was that I was one of the lucky coaches' kids. My dad was in the same place for a long time and I didn't grow up with really the reality of being a coaches' kid where every three years you're moving.
I'd like to stay here for a long time. I hope we have enough success that you guys want us here for a while, so that my kids - my oldest is in kindergarten - can have a pretty stable childhood. I have two kids, a boy named Logan, and a daughter named Quincy, who is 2 years old. My wife Megan is a school counselor, so they're going to finish the academic year in Cincinnati. It will be a rough six months on me because a lot happens in six months when your 2 years old.
On recruiting territories . . .
That's to be determined. Right now, we came in and got a couple green sweaters and moved on out, recruiting kids we already knew about in our areas. We'll sit down and evaluate and make good decisions, trying to utilize contacts we already have. I've been in Pennsylvania for the most part, but I was also in Cincinnati, but we'll figure that out as we go. Every one of these coaches here will tell you that there are a few kids that we really like, that were high profile guys that would not answer that cell phone when you called, and wouldn't get back to us very often. Right after I took this position, I called a few of those guys again, and they didn't answer their cell phone again until they heard the message and all of a sudden they are calling back. It is different, but don't get me wrong, Cincinnati is a great place, but the view guys have of Michigan State and the Big Ten and the facility we are sitting in right here (LaSalle Bank Club in Spartan Stadium) - it's a little bit different to a 17-, 18-year-old.
 Dave Warner talked about the attributes he's looking for in a quarterback.  | |
Dave Warner
Quarterbacks coach Dave Warner, who spent one season in the same capacity on Coach Dantonio's staff in Cincinnati, recently completed his 23rd year of collegiate coaching. He has been a quarterbacks coach and/or offensive coordinator or passing game coordinator for 19 of his previous 23 seasons as a college assistant. Warner and Dantonio also coached together for four seasons at Kansas, when the new Spartan boss was the secondary coach for the Jayhawks from 1991-94. Warner recently met with the media and discussed staff continuity, the attitude at Michigan State and what he likes in a quarterback.
On his invitation and acceptance to be a part of Michigan State . . . Coach Dantonio called Sunday night (Nov. 26) and told us he was accepting the job. We knew he had been offered it, and we knew he had to make a decision by Sunday night. My wife and I just went about our business, waiting for the phone to ring and he called Sunday night saying he was taking the job and invited me to be a part of the staff coming up here. I immediately told him I'm there. I didn't even think about it any longer.
On eight assistants following Dantonio to Michigan State . . .
I think it says everything about Coach Dantonio and his loyalties, and it says a lot about us as a staff that we know how to work together. We understand the importance of continuity on the staff. It's always something that Coach Dantonio stresses. I think it's real important that we stick together.
Whether the coaches are looking for a mobile quarterback or a pocket passer . . .
We like an athletic quarterback to a certain degree There's give and take, but there's a lot to be said about an athletic quarterback, to be able to escape trouble, move in the pocket, run and create things if everything is not black and white as he makes his reads down the field. But certainly he has to be able to throw the ball, but like I said there has to be give and take. If you can get a kid that can stay in the pocket but can also move, run, make guys miss and gain yards running the football, that's what we're looking for at this position.
On the attitude at Michigan State University . . .
I think one thing that has been very obvious since right from the start when we got here has been the thirst, the hunger, for Michigan State to get back on top.
On switching from Cincinnati's many night games to the Big Ten schedule . . .
It's always good knowing you have a nation watching you, but I'm just not a big fan of night games. I don't know of any coaches or players who are because it just makes for such a long day when you have to sit around all day long and wait to have to play a football game. We have our own TV contracts here and I'm sure we'll be televised enough times here. That's not a problem for people to see you. This is better a situation. If we can get up Saturday at 9 in the morning, that's what I want to do.
