Avon Lake Football Coach Will Honor Jim Tressel at Home Opener

Thursday night's nationally televised football game on Foxsports.net between  and  marks the opening of the 2011 high school football season, but the game, for longtime Shoremen coach Dave Dlugosz takes on another meaning.

It is an opportunity for him to honor former Ohio State University coach Jim Tressel, who came under scrutiny by the University and NCAA after he protected his players in an ongoing federal investigation. Tressel later resigned from his coaching position at the school.

There has been no confirmation that Tressel will be in attendance at the game, although he has been making the rounds in northeast Ohio.

Proposed by head coach Jim McQuaide this past spring, and the decision to participate in the tribute left to each individual coach throughout Ohio, it is something that is embraced by Dlugosz.

Dlugosz is believed to be the first high school coach to formally honor Tressel.

"I'm going to wear a white shirt and tie and my vest," Dlugosz said. "Usually I dress in a polo shirt and a vest. I know Jim pretty well and as a friend, and one thing I am is loyal. I don't turn my back on a friend, and that's what this is about, honoring the things he has helped us with and maintaining that type of relationship."

During his tenure, Tressel earned a national championship, his teams made three National Championship game appearances, earned five BCS Bowl wins, six overall bowl wins, seven Big 10 Championships, eight BCS Bowl appearances, and a 9-1 record against Michigan. Tressel also was known for supporting charities and Ohio High school football.

"It's not so much condoning what was done, for he who doesn't have any sin cast the first stone, I think we all have something we wouldn't be proud of," Dlugosz said. "It’s because Coach Tressel has done so much for the state of Ohio, all the charity work he has done, all he has done for the troops overseas.

"Being a member of the board of directors of the football coaches association, from the inside I know all the things he has done and all the support he has given our football programs in Ohio and he deserves to be thanked for that."