Nov. 14, 2005

TRESSEL: Well, as always, a tremendously exciting week, whenever Ohio State and Michigan get together, and it's -- as Coach Bruce always reminds us, it's kind of a season unto itself and tremendous privilege to play in this ball game and I think both teams are playing the best they've been playing all season and, people often ask why is this such a special ball game and often what we've said is the fact that, number one, it's Ohio State and Michigan and, number two, it's your last regular season game and you'd like to think that you've improved and you've gotten as good as you can possibly get each day and -- and you head into this ball game excited that you'll play as well as you're capable of playing and in an atmosphere that's extraordinary playing at our stadium or playing at the big house, it's -- it's a tremendous thrill and an honor and we're excited to make sure we have a great week of preparation. One of the things that I think you have to do in the course of this week is make sure that you understand while you're so excited and it's probably the reason that most of our guys came to Ohio State was in large part to be a part of this game and in large part, I'm sure many of the folks at Michigan went there to be a part of this game as well, but you've got to make sure that you prepare and make sure that you do play your finest game of the season in a regular season finale.

REPORTER: What do you tell your seniors this week?

TRESSEL: It's interesting, according to if you're playing at home or away, sometimes when it's the Ohio State-Michigan game and it's a home game, it's senior week and last time in the stadium and the Ohio State-Michigan game all at once. In this particular case, we've had our senior week activities and had that emotional time the last time our guys get to play in the Horseshoe, and all the rest and, you know, I guess what you talk to your seniors about is simply the Ohio State-Michigan game and the great memories that you have from that and it's something no matter where you play in the NFL or if you don't play in the NFL, you're always going to remember those days in those great stadiums when Ohio State and Michigan get together and you just focus on that and preparing to do as well as you can.

REPORTER: What's the personality of a Lloyd Carr team?

TRESSEL: Personality of a Lloyd Carr team? Well, the one I'm focused on right now is this one, and the thing that I've been impressed with is, you know, it's a group that has a lot of pride and where they are and who they are and in each other and they've battled through, you know, some tough breaks and some close losses early in the season and -- you know, they've just banded together and they're tough and, you know, they never stop playing and I guess that's one of the other reasons that it's so much fun to be a part of this is that's the personality of Michigan teams. Lloyd Carr teams, Bo Schembechler teams, and all the rest and this one's just like it.

REPORTER: Jim, how much better is their defense and early on and what do you think is the strength of their defense?

TRESSEL: Well, you know, they've got great size and speed along with it, and they've now had a chance to play a lot of games together and, you know, they fly around and I think your defense starts on the line of scrimmage and when you have the power they have on the line of scrimmage and their back end people are smart, I think they do a great job of applying pressure, you know, we talk often the game of football is about applying pressure and I think they do a good job applying pressure strategically you know, as well as with their size and speed and as you look at their numbers along the course of the year, you know, they're an excellent defensive football team.

REPORTER: You've won three out of the last four. What do you think's going on up there as far as -- do you think they're under pressure?

TRESSEL: Well, the Ohio State-Michigan game, I guess, begins with pressure is applied because it's the Ohio State-Michigan game. You know, I don't know that it's any different, according to what happened last year or the last time you played there or any of that type of thing. You know, you know as you look at the Ohio State-Michigan games, the team that plays and doesn't make mistakes and comes up with the big plays -- you know, when guys come back at reunions, they talk about the guy that made the big play in the Ohio State-Michigan game. That's just the legacy that's left and I'm sure the same thing goes up there when people come back and talk about the great pride they have in their program. It's who made the plays in the Ohio State-Michigan game.

So, you know, I'm sure it's just like every other 11th Saturday in the year and it's -- it's a lot of emotion. I'm sure it's a lot of work on making sure that you stay focused on the task at hand and not get too excited about the fact that it's "the game" and just like it is here.

REPORTER: Coach, people can quote a coach's record against Michigan off the top of their heads. How conscious were you when you took the job of how this game would affect a coach's reputation one way or the other?

TRESSEL: Well, I had been here for three years with Coach Bruce and he was an Ohio State graduate and a proud Ohio State coach, and working for him here, there was no question that, you know, the 11th game was a season unto itself and -- but I don't know that I ever thought about the record, you just thought about the importance of representing Ohio State in this game and -- and Coach Bruce reminds us often, because we have good fortune that he's here a lot and he reminds us often, reminds our players often, that your legacy is the Ohio State-Michigan game and that's our culture, but that's why it's exciting to play in it, because it's important.

REPORTER: Coach, against Penn State, it's obvious they were kind of -- they had some good wins and some tough losses. Coincidently, it's the same day you had the big play against Michigan State to beat them there, but did that win against Penn State for Michigan to kind of propel them to where they're at now as to being one big play's given them a lot of confidence, it seems.

TRESSEL: Well, if you're good enough to beat Penn State in 2005, it should propel you, because Penn State's an outstanding football team and that was a heck of a win, you know, the way they did it. Any time you can come back and win, I think that just adds something to who you are and how you feel about yourself and you can really build on that and, you know, they have certainly done that.

REPORTER: Why was Troy successful in the game last year and how much of that can he take into this week?

TRESSEL: Well, you know, Troy made a lot of good decisions and we always say that if you start with making good decisions, then usually those other things that we really need to happen have a good chance of coming true. Like eliminating turnovers and like coming up with some big plays and I thought Troy did an excellent job, as you study that film, there were some times where, you know, the route we had called or whatever wasn't there and he made the good decision of not to throw it, not to force it, you know, not to have his mind made up in the huddle that it was going to be there and only take what was there and if it wasn't, throw it away. He had a couple great throw-aways in that game that -- you know, there was nothing there and we could have lost some yards and so forth and those are good decisions, so I would say that any excellent quarterback play begins with a guy making good decisions.

REPORTER: Why in the last few weeks has your offensive been so explosive?

TRESSEL: Well we've made a lot of big plays but I don't think you can discount where we've had a chance to start drives. Our defense has been very good, our special teams has had some returns and the punt block last week was a great -- great thing for us to all of a sudden we have a two touchdown lead after we were down by a touchdown, so I think if you add all those things together -- but we've had some guys come up and make some plays.

REPORTER: Guys talked Saturday about remembering two years ago, making (inaudible), all the hype going into it, they took a really big lea, 28 or 35, whatever it was and guys talking that were in that game, A.J, and Bobby, some of them on Saturday, saying they remember their last trip up there not wanting to, you know, get behind early, which is a pretty obvious comment, I guess.

TRESSEL: Well, you know, that's a tough environment and that's one of the things about the Big Ten is there's some environments that energy gets created by the home crowd and all of a sudden that can add to some of the difficulty and so without question you don't want to go up there and get behind just like you don't want to come into the Horseshoe and get behind. I don't know the exact number of guys what played significantly in that game, but you mentioned A.J. and Bobby, and I'm sure there are a handful of others that will have probably a greater understanding of the importance of that and they have to make sure and we have to make sure we do a good job of saying, hey, from play one, we've got to do a good job.

REPORTER: Can you talk about how Josh Huston has been so effective this year and how he'll help you this Saturday.

TRESSEL: Josh Huston has done everything we had hoped he would do. We knew he was an excellent kicker. We knew he has a tremendously strong leg and he was in a battle, you know, five years ago for the starting job and -- and was still kicking off well into the season and Mike Nugent kind of took the job and really there was no reason for him to lose it because he just -- after that first year, I don't know how many he missed but it wasn't very many and to Josh Huston's credit, he kept working on it, fought through some injuries and really couldn't kick very much for a couple years, but he had confidence in himself and, you know, usually the people that -- that achieve have even more confidence in themselves than maybe everyone else does and he knew for sure that he could do this and going into the year, I felt that he was very capable but it was interesting, right near the end of preseason, Ryan Pretorius who was battling it out at kicker with Josh, he mentioned right before the first game he said, you know, Coach -- I can't speak like he does, he's from South Africa -- but he said in his little brogue, he said Josh Huston's going to have a tremendous year this year, I promise you. And for the guy who was trying to beat him out to say that -- he's with him every second during practice, so we've really been pleased with what he's done.

REPORTER: Do you have any regrets of because of the aftermath of the bowl suspension, you came so close to having the year that could have been and looking back on it, that probably certainly affected the Texas game?

TRESSEL: Well, you know, we have had a whole bunch of time to reflect on -- on regrets because we've been fighting for our lives here for ten weeks and, you know, we're probably pleased with the fact that we're getting better and I'm sure when we take the time to go back and look at the whole, there will be -- we'll have a chance to look back at some early games and say we wish we were further along and you say, okay, why weren't we further along and some of it you can perhaps trace to practice reps or game reps or whatever it happens to be. But the season is like a treadmill and it never gets turned off, so right now our focus needs to be totally on how can we get prepared for a -- an excellent Michigan team.

REPORTER: We asked Troy post game about the way you embraced the game. He said you're able to pull ought your teachings and your saying into this big pot as if you were a chemist and brew it all up.

TRESSEL: Troy said all that.

REPORTER: It a yearlong devotion to this game or are there more particular things you do this week?

TRESSEL: Well, there's a yearlong devotion to teaching what it takes to win and especially what it takes to win, you know, against very, very good opponents. So, you do hope it's a culmination of everything you've learned and, again, I've said often, that's one of the reasons that this is such a big game. You know, if we played this occasionally in the opener and occasionally the third game and occasionally the 7th, I'm not sure that it would have become what it is. But because of when it's been, for all these years and typically conference standings can be affected, you know, by this game for -- from my life time anyway, you know, I recognize the fact that whoever wins this game will probably have something to do with the conference race and you add all those things together, so you hope you're teaching does culminate to doing the best you can in this game.

REPORTER: Do you feel challenged each time to find some little motivational edge that you will throw at them?

TRESSEL: No, not really. In fact, this is one of those games that I don't know that you have to worry about getting anyone's attention. It's, you know, guys watch a little extra film, guys have just a little bit more focus. One thing that's interesting in practice, I'm not sure that it's the hardest hitting week because it's the 11th game and you're starting to taper off anyway and everybody wants to make it to the game. It was amazing when the doctors brought in the medical report, usually on Sunday it takes five or ten minutes for them to explain the probables and questionables and they came in this Sunday and said, of course, everyone's ready, and that's -- but that's the way this game is.

REPORTER: Coach, as kind of a follow-up, Coach Bruce said last Saturday that when he was coach here, he thought about the Michigan game 365 days a year, it came to mind once. For you, is it a one week-affair or does it come to mind all through the year or does it come somewhere in between?

TRESSEL: You know, it's probably somewhere in between because you do think as you're preparing, you know, where can we develop this, whether it's where can we develop defensively with this new personnel or this new scheme or where can we develop offensively with what -- where are we trying to go, but you have to drop those thoughts when you're getting ready to play Northwestern or you're getting ready to play Illinois or Michigan State or whomever, but you're always thinking about what you'd like to become because you want to be the best you can be at the end. That's what life is about.

REPORTER: What's your favorite part of this week?

TRESSEL: The game. You know, there's no question it's -- you know, the preparation's fun and the process and, you know, watching the film and sitting there guessing and, you know, I wonder if they'll do this or I wonder if they'll play us like they played them. What's hard about this week, I've found, is you have so many films. In the Big Ten we exchange 11 games or ten games, then you have last year's game so you have so many films you're trying to study whereas in the middle of the year you might have three or four films and -- but the -- it is fun watching all that and you think you have a little handle on it and you go back and look at this team and say, oh, boy they played this team a little bit differently but that's fun but nothing like the game.

REPORTER: Do you block all the hype out or do you embrace it?

TRESSEL: Well, you try to work hard to focus on what you need to do to prepare. So that's why we're here on Monday and not spreading things out, because, you know, the hype can take over. And you know we've got to make sure that preparation is the focus.

REPORTER: On the note of preparation, how do you feel like your offense matches up with their defense going into Saturday?

TRESSEL: Well, if we can keep improving, you know, we feel like we can compete offensively and, you know, their defense, you know, keeps getting better and as I mentioned at the outset, they have powerful guys that can really run, skilled in the back end, but, you know, our guys feel as if -- really, it comes down to how we execute and you know they're up there saying well it's going to come down to how they execute and we're both right.

REPORTER: Coach Bowden at Florida State said everything's great except the game.

TRESSEL: He did.

REPORTER: I believe he said something like that. Is that kind of a function of being in the spotlight for so long or what?

TRESSEL: Well, once the game starts, it's fun. That last hour before the game, you know, game day is not fun until it starts. If there's 24 hours in a game day, there's only three hours that are any fun, you know, after the first snap. I suppose if you do all right after the game's good, but, you know, I like the games better than practice, you know.

REPORTER: How can an 1100, perhaps, 1200 yard rush for this year in Antonio, how does that just change the dynamic of what you guys do and who you are?

TRESSEL: Well it was our goal as we went into the year is to -- to move toward being able to be a balanced football team. We've talked about that often here and, in fact, I said to -- to Pitt before the season is that, you know, if we want to reach a lot of the goals that we say we would like to do, we need a guy that can rush for 1500 yards, because then you know if we've got a 1500-yard rusher, we probably are going to be able to throw it a little bit, too, and we're not there, and it might be hard to get there, but, you know, I feel good about our progress and I think it helps us.

REPORTER: When you say we need a 1500-yard rusher, what did he say?

TRESSEL: He said that's me. Of course, he's --

REPORTER: Special teams, Jim, if you had to play him in special teams, you'd probably take that this year, wouldn't you?

TRESSEL: Well, you know, it's funny, I was looking back at some notes from a year ago and in five of the six categories going into last year's game, we were one and two. It was interesting. I don't think we're one and two in everything, but I think we both -- I think we both had pretty darn good special teams. Breaston can beat you. I think Breaston made some difference. You are you know, their kicker is a veteran and made, I don't know, 80 some percent of his field goals and that type of thing and they're very solid in everything they do, they're -- their guy has like 36 touch backs, their kickoff guy and Josh has, I don't know,40-some.

So special teams will, you know, everybody knows what -- what we say, special teams and the turnover margin makes the difference in big games and it will be the case Saturday.

REPORTER: As you look bang over the years, there's been a lot of these games that have been decided by special teams and I'm sure you were a part of when you were here before as well. Does that -- obviously that goes along with your philosophy that you've always put a lot of accent on that.

TRESSEL: Without question. We spend a lot of times on special teams and I know Michigan does, too, or they wouldn't be so good. Over the years I've visited with them and I've watched their film and, you know, that's a philosophy, I think, that -- that they have as strongly as we do and there's no doubt about it, we spend an extraordinary amount of time preparing in the special teams and the thing that's hard about special teams, I find is it's a one-play series. On offense, if you throw incomplete on first down, you've got two more tries. On special teams, you'd better do it right on that play, and that's -- that's the fun of it, I guess.

REPORTER: Hart -- hasn't been out there for the last month or so --

TRESSEL: Who hasn't been?

REPORTER: Michael Hart.

TRESSEL: I think that Hart is one of those electric guys that, you know, he has a chance to, you know, to bring along the people that are around him, but that's not to say anything less about the guys they've got carrying it now. Shoot, those guys, they run the football well and I would imagine that we'll see a number of backs on Saturday and I would expect Hart to be one of them.

REPORTER: Jim, you guys have faced -- your defense has faced some very talented quarterbacks this year. Where would you rate Henne?

TRESSEL: Well, Henne's different than, for instance, Young or Robinson. He's going to throw it a little bit more and he's got the -- you know, he can throw that field out, you know, on a rope and so forth. And he's -- he's now got, what, 20-some games of experience and, you know, what I admire about him is it's hard to be the quarterback at Michigan just like it's hard to be the quarterback at Ohio State, when things go okay, it's wonderful, if it doesn't, all of a sudden, people wonder about you and I think he's handled it well and he's stood in there and playing great football right now. I think they had 41 points at half time last week and, you know, so he's a little bit different, though, than some of the guys we've faced.

REPORTER: Can you talk about stopping him and the fact that A.J. has been the heart and soul of your defense for three years as your starter.

TRESSEL: That's really two different questions. A.J. will be a big part of what we do on defense, he always is and we're lucky to have him and, you know, he's tremendous linebacker and a tremendous leader. Everything you could ever hope for. But he's just a part and he needs to do his job, which he always does and the guys around him have to be where they need to be and -- and, you know, you can't make mistakes, you know, against a guy like Henne, who can, you know, strike at any time and their receivers and their run game. I've always said -- I think I've said to you often what I like about Michigan's offense is they're balanced. They can power run, they can run wide, great screen team, they're a great reverse team, they'll throw short, they'll throw down the field. There's not much they don't do.

REPORTER: When Michigan was three and three and one and two in the conference, was there a point at all where you'd take notice of something like that and just wonder to yourself maybe Michigan's in for a rough season this year?

TRESSEL: No. The only team I worry about is ours and the only team I evaluate is ours until we get ready to play someone. We watched Michigan on film, I think we had them maybe three of our conference games they had played the team before we did and so you naturally are watching as you study, but you're -- you know, the folklore about practicing for this game or studying this game for weeks on end prior to the game, I've never experienced that.

REPORTER: You've been there twice. Obviously the first time was a great day, Jonathan Wells had those big runs, you guys got an early lead and won the game, surprised a lot of people. Two years ago, you guys ended up not wing. What have you seen in the two times obviously getting the lead the first time, was pretty pivotal in getting the one win, but from your experience being the head coach, going to Ann Arbor?

TRESSEL: I think just as you say, you'd like to be, you know, right there in the middle of a battle throughout, of course, the early going and throughout the game. It makes it much more difficult, because you allow the crowd to keep adding energy and so forth. But I thought our guys handled -- I don't think they folded, you know, even though we got behind and so forth, we fought back and, you know, we just didn't get it done. I think at one point we brought it back to a 7-point difference and had the ball, and, you know, it was disappointing that we couldn't bring it all the way back, but one thing about the Ohio State kids and the Michigan kids, they're going to play that game for the whole way.

REPORTER: How tough is it to play up there?

TRESSEL: It's tough to play in all the Big Ten stadiums.

REPORTER: Just so loud? Is it the worst place?

TRESSEL: I don't think any of them are -- I don't call them bad or worse or whatever. It's one of the fun places. Just like Penn State's one of the fun places. You just -- you know, you get -- you get caught up and you get a little bit of the electricity because if you close your eyes, you think they're rooting for you. That's what you try to pretend and -- but, you know, there's a noise factor and there's the -- it's not your place. It's not your locker room, you know, it's not where you are more often, but -- but it's a fun place.

REPORTER: (inaudible) -- a little bit more scrutiny when you get there because they were very upset about the dogs and everything, all the equipment that went through -- had to be gone through last year?

TRESSEL: Do I think I'll get more scrutiny?

REPORTER: Do you think you and the players might get a little bit more scrutiny this year because they thought it was gamesmanship a year ago?

TRESSEL: You know, I'm not sure that anyone thought that our players or our coaches had any gamesmanship going on. I'm sure, you know, in this world, when there's a hundred some thousand people at an event and maybe another 100,000 outside, there's going to be security. That's something that, you know, we have to be prepared for and understand and what's important to us, what we have to focus on is when that kickoff goes off at 1:06 is that, you know, we -- we take care of things at that point in time and not allow the things prior to that, you know, to -- to infiltrate our thinking.

REPORTER: Jim, you mentioned the --

REPORTER: (inaudible) -- inspection situation will be, whatever, the dog sniffers, what do you all expect?

TRESSEL: I suppose just like we have it here, we have to have our bags down to the bus at a certain time in our hotel and then you can't see them again until you get in and we -- we couldn't even carry our briefcases. Used to carry our briefcases when we walked into the skull session and on into Ohio Stadium. We can't -- we couldn't even do that this year. And, you know, I'm sure the same will be true, we'll have the same type of things. You have to have your bus at a certain place at a certain time to get checked and -- and -- but, again, I don't know that we'll --

REPORTER: Jim, where is Troy now as opposed to maybe the Texas or San Diego State game, what have you seen the development in him in the past eight or nine weeks?

TRESSEL: You know, I would like to think that every day he gains just a little bit more knowledge. We always talk about the fact that the good player slows the game down so they can make good decisions. And the more you're around something, the more you can slow it down. And you're a little bit more aware of, hey, this is what happens and you slow down and make good decisions and I think he's progressed there.

REPORTER: Do you think, also, coming off the -- the great game he had last year against Michigan that there was some expectations that it was just going -- as soon as he got in the lineup it was going to be just the same thing as it was the Michigan game. Not with you necessarily but the fans, because, of course, its Michigan game is such a huge game and he had that great day that when at first he struggled a little bit, did the -- did the expectations were so high from that game the year before.

TRESSEL: Yeah, I think it's -- it's-- wouldn't be unfair to say that the general population is a highlight population. They don't sit and watch the film and they don't sit and watch practice and see the things that we don't do well. What they watch is they see the same play time after time after time and, you know, that becomes -- oh, that's what they do. You know, every time -- it was a little bit like Teddy went through, you know, at the beginning of the season and so forth, everyone had watched his highlights all winter long and all spring long and preseason so every play was going to be a 60-yard punt return whether they had good coverage or not, but that's okay. We're glad they watch our highlights.

REPORTER: Coach, after the Penn State game, obviously this is where -- the best you could hope for to rip off five straight wins. Do you feel you envisioned how well your team would be, is this what you pictured are they as good as you hoped they would be going into this game?

TRESSEL: I'm awfully proud of the fact that they have progressed and that we have gotten better and we have gotten five wins because I didn't look at the next five games sail saying, okay, we'll win those five and we'll be okay, because we had some battles and I've liked the way they work. You know, I like the way they worked in the winter and spring and preseason and all that when they were undefeated and I also like the way they worked when -- I don't know what our record was, 3-2 or whatever it was, and you know, never changed the way I felt about how they've gone after being as good as they can be.

REPORTER: Some of the trash talking and bulletin board stuff in this series kind of like has taken on its own history. Do you guys pull the players aside after the Northwestern game and tell them, careful what you say, don't say anything stupid, don't enflame the other team right off at the beginning of the week. Do you take that approach with them at all or do you just let them grow.

TRESSEL: We have media training, believe it or not, in preseason. And we talk about, you know, what's -- what's appropriate way to -- to do the job when you have the job of visiting with the media and projecting on behalf of your team, and, you know, you continue to talk about that all year long and of course you remind them as you get ready for the last one, knowing that, you know, the media swells and I'm sure the -- there will be a thousand media folk this week, and they know it takes on a whole other level and, of course, you remind them that, you know, we've got to do a good job. We talk about we've got to do a good job in everything we do, we have to be dressed properly, we have to have our bags down so the dogs can sniff them on time. We've got to do everything well in a game like this.

REPORTER: When this game defines your success or failure, as it does, is there a trick for making it a positive pressure and not a negative pressure?

TRESSEL: Well, what you hope is it's a fun pressure and it's a memorable pressure and that they're trying to create, you know, positive memories and they're going to have fun playing the game because anyone that's ever played in this game, whether they won, you know, half of them when they were here or they won more than half or less than half, everyone will tell you that those -- playing in those games was extraordinary. Now the trick is, I think, is preparing yourselves so that you cannot only have fun playing in it but you can create some positive memories for yourself and your team and -- because you will look back on it with pride if you happen to do that.

REPORTER: How do you go about doing that? How do you go about creating the fun pressure or the memorable pressure.

TRESSEL: In closed meetings.

REPORTER: In any way do you think that this game may somehow go too far in defining the seasons for each of these two teams? Is it too much almost at some point or do you like that?

TRESSEL: Well, you know, you don't have that decision, you know, everyone decides on what importance they assign to something and, you know, the Ohio State-Michigan game, I think the decision was made long before we were ever here that that's a big game, you know, voted as the greatest rivalry in college football, and there's some great rivalries. So, you know, if you're not interested in being a part of that pressure, you'd better not play in this game.

REPORTER: Jim, (inaudible) winning three of the last four against Michigan. This season, heading into this game you seem to be peaking in all facets of the game. Are you worried about your guys being a little overconfident?

TRESSEL: Us being overconfident, no. Our guys know how good you have to play to win that game and, really, those first ten don't mean much and they know that those first ten don't mean much and it's what you do, you know, up there on Saturday that -- that does make the difference and -- and so, no, I don't worry about our guys being over confident. They'll watch lots of film and they'll see that, you know, we've got a tremendous challenge.

REPORTER: Can you just comment on Teddy Ginn, just the electricity --

TRESSEL: She comes one time and she dominates the conversation. That northwest Ohio, I tell you -- I'm sorry, what was that again?

REPORTER: Can you just comment on Teddy Ginn and the electricity that he brings to college football.

TRESSEL: Well, one thing about Teddy is he has fun playing the game and when you have fun playing the game, you play it fast. The people that are uptight playing the game, you know, they don't play it quite as fast and I think what Teddy brings to the game is a fun, fast playing guy that believes every time he touches it, he can go the whole way and there's sometimes, you know, I wish -- just go forward a little bit and all of a sudden he side steps and he goes a hundred yards or whatever, but I think he just brings excitement.

REPORTER: Jim, what have you done with the gold pants you've won and what do you think --

TRESSEL: Well, it's a great tradition started back in the 30s and we've kept them in the family and they're a prized possessions and it's something that you're very proud of. I don't wear them around or anything like that, it's just something that any one of those you get is very pressure shows, just like you're at Michigan any time you beat Ohio State it's pressure shows because it's a big game.

REPORTER: Jim, you mentioned the folklore of the game before and there's all these great stories about Woody and Francis Schimdt and you have some on Earl, have you done anything that we don't know about to add to that? Is there any wild and crazy stuff going on or is that stuff still all -- is that all in the past?

TRESSEL: Well, I've never been accused of being wild and crazy, so I -- really, the thing we do is, you know, spend night and day preparing and, you know, taking in every moment of it and enjoying, you know, the competition against a great school and a great program and I don't know -- I don't know if the folklore that you talk about became folklore after the fact as opposed to while it was happening. I don't know.

REPORTER: What about on the day you got the Ohio State job and -- the Michigan game, that kind of added to all of this, too.

TRESSEL: That added to the folklore?

REPORTER: Yeah, you're a part of it because of that.

TRESSEL: Okay, thanks. I don't know.

REPORTER: Lieutenant players tell any stories about you -- what do you think 20 years from now, like these players now tell all these woody stories 20 years later, will they tell stories about stuff you did during Michigan week that we're missing all these great stories now.

TRESSEL: I doubt it. I doubt it. I think our guys are waiting over there; is that right.

REPORTER: Marla.

TRESSEL: I'm sorry, oh, geez, you're right. Whoo, we almost blew the whole deal. Okay, Marla.

REPORTER: When you're recruiting a guy, do you ever think, is he tough enough, does he play well in big games to handle this week?

TRESSEL: That's one of the things you think about first is their toughness and do they thrive on challenges, and you talk to them about the Ohio State-Michigan game. Do you want to be a part of a game like this when, you know, you're going to be the guy under center or you're going to be the guy out in the corner man to man and against Breaston or Avant, is that something that you would interest you, absolutely. You can tell the guys that -- that have interest in Ohio State or they have interest in Michigan. They're the guys that do want challenges because they know, you know, what responsibility there is to play at places like that.

REPORTER: Do you see something in their eyes when you're talking about that or anything that you make a judgment on?

TRESSEL: Well, a lot of times we'll have kids in camp and a lot of times we'll see a kid play or, of course we see them on video and you see them handle all the adulation of all the different people wanting them and you can kind of figure out, you know, is this something that would appeal to them that they would thrive on and you hope you have a good feel. Sometimes you're right and sometimes you're wrong.