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The 2008 Ohio State versus Michigan Preview: A Real Family Affair

BEREA, OHIO --  When The Ohio State University Buckeyes kickoff against the University of Michigan Wolverines on Saturday, November 22, 2008 at the Horseshoe in Columbus, Ohio, it will be the meetings of the minds when two former Baldwin-Wallace (Berea, Ohio) College quarterbacks do battle on opposite teams and on opposite sides of the football. The interesting things is how much they have in common, so today, we will give you some background material.
 
Tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 18, we will focus on legendary B-W Head Coach and College Football Hall of Famer Dr. Lee Tressel. On Wednesday, Nov. 19, we will visit the B-W quarterbacking career of a young Jim Tressel and then send you to the OSU web site for more up-to-date information. On Thursday, Nov. 19, we will visit the career of Scott Shafer as he goes from Yellow Jacket quarterback on offense to the other side of the football -- defense -- and then take a visit to 'the school up north's' web site.  On Friday, we'll let you catch your breath and get ready for the big game as we 'Count Down to Kickoff 2008'.
 
The Background
 
Veteran Ohio State Head Coach Jim Tressel, B-W class of 1975, squares off against first-year Michigan Defensive Coordinator Scott Shafer, B-W class of 1990.  The duo have a number of things in common.
 
Both Jim Tressel and Scott Shafer grew up in the family of coaches as both their fathers were football coaches.
 
Scott Shafer '90
Jim Tressel's deceased father, Lee, is one of the greatest small college football coaches and athletic directors ever. He won 155 games from 1957 through 1980 and compiled a 155-52-6 overall record with a .742 winning percentage. He led the Yellow Jackets to the 1978 NCAA Division III National Championship. In addition and prior to his service to our country in World War II, Coach Tressel began his collegiate football career at Ohio State. When he returned to college after the war, he enrolled at B-W and graduated from the College in 1948.  Before returning to his alma mater in 1957, Dr. Tressel began his coaching career in Mentor, Ohio and at Mentor High School before coming his young family to Massillon to be the head coach at Massillon H.S. high school.
 
Shafer's deceased father, Ron Shafer, was a longtime football coach at Painesville (Ohio) Riverside High School, and coached against Lee Tressel when Dr. Tressel was at Mentor.  Coach Shafer built one of the most successful programs in the old Northeastern Conference and regularly churned out student-athletes of great character who went on to play at the collegiate level.
 
The Quarterbacks and Relationship with a Legend
 
While at Baldwin-Wallace, both Jim Tressel and Scott Shafer played quarterback and both learned from the Master, another college football legend, B-W's Bob Packard, who passed away last October.  For Jim Tressel, Bob Packard was his Dad's right-hand man, his offensive backfield coach and offensive coordinator, and eventually his hand-picked successor in 1980.  For Shafer, Bob Packard was his head coach and offensive coordinator. You can see much of Packard in the way each coaches the game of football. Both see balance in their attack. Tressel on offense with a balance between his offensive attack as he seeks equality between the run and the pass. Shafer on defense as he seeks the ability to equally stop the run and the pass.
 
The one big difference between the two in this section is that Tressel abhors turnovers while opponent turnovers put a big smile on Shafer's face.
 
FOR MORE INFORMATION on both Jim Tressel and Scott Shafer, please return to the B-W Athletics Web site during OSU-Michigan Week as we count down to kickoff on Nov. 22.
 
FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327, on cell phone at 440-532-9605 and via e-mail at kruple@bw.edu.