About the Authors

JIM TRESSEL is the head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team. Since taking over the reins in 2001, he has guided the Buckeyes to eight bowl appearances, including six BCS games; six ten-win seasons; four Big Ten titles; and one national championship. Prior to coming to Ohio State, Tressel spent fifteen seasons as the head coach at Youngstown State University, where he was selected four times as the Division I-AA National Coach of the Year. Coach Tressel has an overall coaching record of 218-76-2 and is ranked twelfth all-time in Division I coaching victories.

In the course of his coaching career, Tressel has been named the Chevrolet National Coach of the Year (’93, ’94, and ’97); the American Coaches Association National Coach of the Year (’91, ’94, and ’02); the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year (’94 and ’02); and the AFCA Regional Coach of the Year (’87 and ’93). He has also been selected seven times as Ohio College Coach of the Year.

Coach Tressel is actively involved with the American Football Coaches Association, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Alpha Tau Omega, The Ohio State University Medical Center, and the William Oxley Thompson Library.

He and his wife also work on behalf of the Alzheimer’s Association of Central Ohio, the Columbus Children’s Hospital, the Tressel Family Fund for Cancer Prevention Research, Ronald McDonald House, the Youngstown State University Minority Student Endowment, the Mount Carmel School of Nursing, and the Jim and Ellen Tressel Athletic Scholarship Fund.

Coach Tressel and his wife, Ellen, live in Upper Arlington, Ohio. They are the parents of four children: Zak, Carlee, Eric, and Whitney.

CHRIS FABRY is the host of Chris Fabry Live! on Moody Radio and the author of more than sixty books. His first novel for adults is Dogwood (Tyndale, 2008). Chris and his wife, Andrea, have nine children and live in Colorado. They now cheer for Ohio State. Find out more about Chris at www.chrisfabry.com.