Ohio State made it official on Tuesday, June 23, announcing that former coach Jim Tressel will be enshrined in the Ohio Stadium Ring of Honor when the Buckeyes open the 2026 college football season on September 5 against Ball State. The ceremony will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET, broadcast on BTN.Tressel's name will join Woody Hayes, who led Ohio State to 13 Big Ten titles and five national championships from 1951 to 1978, with both plaques sitting across the field from one honoring Paul Brown, making him just the third coach ever enshrined in the Horseshoe.On Wednesday, another former Ohio State legend spoke about Tressel's legacy, Urban Meyer. Speaking on his "The Triple Option" podcast, Meyer said, "Jim Tressel is a great friend. And he's always been a great friend. We played against each other only the one time, in the championship game. But I've said this many times, when you see what happened at Ohio State when he resigned or let go or whatever, I followed it because obviously I'm an Ohio State guy, and I was like, 'Are you kidding me?' ... Jim Tressel's all class ... He certainly deserves his name in that stadium."Urban Meyer reflects on his relationship with Jim Tressel after Tressel's Ohio State Ring of Honor announcement.@TheScriptOSU pic.twitter.com/X0aJ1mnC6t— The Triple Option (@3xOptionShow) June 24, 2026Meyer's comments resonate not just because Meyer is also a former Buckeyes coach, leading the program to three Big Ten titles and a national championship in 2014, but because Tressel is the guy Meyer beat to win his first-ever national title in 2006 while with the Florida Gators. The matchup pitted two powerhouses against each other. The undefeated Buckeyes entered No. 1 behind Heisman quarterback Troy Smith, while the Gators came in No. 2 after winning the SEC in Meyer's second year with the program.Early on, Ohio State scored on a Ted Ginn Jr. kickoff return, but he was injured on the play and missed the rest of the game. The Buckeyes' offense completely collapsed. Florida's defense overwhelmed Smith, holding Ohio State to just 82 total yards in a dominant 41-14 victory.The win delivered Florida its second national title and Meyer's first. Ohio State's Troy Smith and Ted Ginn Jr. consult with Coach Jim Tressel during the first half of the BCS Championship game at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, January 8, 2007. | Neal C. Lauron/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn ImagesWho is Jim Tressel? Tressel coached Ohio State from 2001 to 2010, went 106-23, won six Big Ten titles, and a national title in 2002. He also posted a 9-1 record against archrival Michigan. That's among the most wins of any Buckeyes coach against the Wolverines, second only to Hayes (16-11-1). In 2002, Ohio State became the first team in college football history to finish 14-0, defeating the Miami Hurricanes in double overtime, 31-24, to win the program's seventh national title and first in 32 years. That team featured several future NFL players, including Chris Gamble, Santonio Holmes, Michael Jenkins, Nick Mangold, Will Smith, Bobby Carpenter, and A.J. Hawk.During his decade in Columbus, Tressel produced 24 First Team All-Americans, 67 NFL Draft picks (14 in the first round), and the Heisman winner Smith in 2006. His .828 winning percentage still ranks fourth all-time at Ohio State, behind only Meyer (.902), Carroll Widdoes (.889), and Ryan Day (.872).Tressel resigned as Ohio State's coach on Memorial Day 2011 amid an NCAA investigation into improper benefits received by several players from the owner of a Columbus tattoo parlor, which became known as "Tattoogate." The shadow of that exit kept his Ring of Honor moment waiting for years, until now.Tressel has maintained a close connection to the program under Ryan Day, and now, he'll get his name up on the wall of one of the most iconic stadiums in sports.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow