NOMINATED -- Former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel watches a scoreboard tribute for the 2002 national championship team during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game between Notre Dame and Ohio State, Sept. 3, 2022, in Columbus. Tressel has been nominated to succeed Jon Husted as Ohio's lieutenant governor. -- Associated Press

COLUMBUS — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Monday nominated former Ohio State Buckeyes football coach Jim Tressel to be the state’s next lieutenant governor.

Tressel retired a year and a half ago as president of Youngstown State University, a job he had held since 2014.

The Republican governor announced the pick at a news conference, calling Tressel “a natural leader” who will ably succeed Jon Husted, whom DeWine recently tapped to fill the U.S. Senate seat left open by J.D. Vance’s election as vice president.

“He has the requisite skill sets, he has the criteria that I outlined. He knows Ohio,” DeWine said. “Jim Tressel, I trust his judgment. He is a born leader.”

The governor said the two men have not discussed whether Tressel would make a run for the governorship in 2026, when DeWine must retire due to term limits. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is already in that race on the Republican side, with former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy preparing to dive in later this month. Former Ohio Health Director Dr. Amy Acton is running as a Democrat.

Tressel’s nomination must now be approved by the Ohio Senate and Ohio House.

He coached Ohio State University’s football team from 2001 to 2010. The Buckeyes won the 2002 national championship during Tressel’s tenure, as well as six Big Ten championships.