The Wisconsin Badgers’ defensive coach, Mike Tressel, is related to Jim Tressel, the veteran football coach. Mike is the oldest son of Jim’s brother, Dick Tressel, making them nephew and uncle.
The Tressel family has a long history in football. It started from Mike’s grandfather, Lee Tressel, a football head coach at Baldwin-Wallace. Jim and Mike, the two oldest sons of Lee Tressel, followed in his footsteps.
Lee Tressel’s youngest son, Dave Tressel, preferred to become an educator in the Berea City Schools. Mike and Dick Tressel both have earned 100 wins in their footballing career following their father’s lead.
Mike Tressel joined the Wisconsin Badgers earlier this year. Though the jury is still out on his performance, the Badgers secured a vital victory against Nebraska, turning an early 14-point deficit into a 24-17 overtime victory.
Is Mike Tressel Related To Jim Tressel? Relationship Explained
Mike Tressel is one of many nephews of Jim Tressel. Mike has even previously worked under Jim at Ohio State in 2002.
The Wisconsin Badgers’ defensive coach worked as a graduate assistant under his uncle. It was Jim’s second stint at Ohio after working as a head coach for Youngstown State for 14 years.
Jim had joined Ohio State in 1983 and worked there for three years as a QB/WR/RB coach before moving to Youngstown. Jim shares three kids from his previous marriage- Zak, Carlee, and Whitney.
From his second marriage with Ellen Tressel, the former football coach has one son named Eric Tressel. Unlike their father, Zak and Eric didn’t become football coaches or are related to sports in any way.
One of his daughters, Whitney Tressel, is a freelance photographer and was a photo coordinator for Esquire. She graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology and resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
All four of Jim’s kids have stayed away from the public limelight. Previously, in 2010, Ellen Tressel talked about her relationship with her husband.
When asked if her husband celebrates his success at home, Ellen said, “No.” She complimented him, saying he had the perfect personality for a coach. Ellen also said she looked forward to spending more time with Jim after his retirement but said her husband wanted to become a teacher.
The couple is heavily involved with the Tressel Family Fund. In 2015, the couple donated $1 million to establish a student work endowment fund at YSU.
They also have had involvement in the $75 million construction project to revamp the James Cancer Hospital. Both Ellen and Jim’s parents were cancer patients before their passing, so it meant a lot to them to help in the hospital’s project.
Mike Tressel Football Family
Mike Tressel is the oldest of three sons of his parents, Dick and Connie Tressel. The love for football runs in their family, as Mike’s grandfather, Lee Tressel, was also a football coach at Baldwin-Wallace College.
Lee Tressel was the head coach for Baldwin-Wallace from 1958 to 1980. During his time at Baldwin-Wallace, Lee accumulated a record of 155-52-6 in 23 seasons and won the 1978 NCAA Division III Football Championship.
Mike’s father, Dick Tressel, served as the head coach at Hamline University from 1978-2000. During that time, Dick earned a 124-102-2 record. He later worked with his brother, Jim, at Ohio State as an assistant coach from 2001 to 2010.
Mike’s two younger brothers have also taken the sporting route. Both his brothers, Ben and Luke, played football under their father at Hamline University.
After graduating from Hamline, Ben earned his master’s degree at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota in Education. He currently works as a content lead physical education/health teacher at Minneapolis Public Schools.
Luke followed in Mike’s footsteps and became a football coach. In 2005, Luke was named the wide receivers coach at the University of Minnesota.
Before being promoted to WR coach, Luke had worked as a strength and conditioning coach for the Gophers’ in the 2004 season. Luke is available on X (formerly Twitter) and like a football coach all of his tweets are related to the game he loves the most.
