Former Buckeye From Jim Tressel Era Spills HC’s Genius Secret to Improve Special Teams

Many know the 67th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, Jim Tressel, for his highly disciplined and successful leadership in football. At Columbus, he is revered not just for his national championship but also for his record against Michigan. At the same time, Tressel’s players see him as a genius who developed unique methods to improve them. Former Buckeye Tyson Gentry’s outlook on playing his position complete changed under Tressel.

“What’s really cool with him, regarding the punter as the most important, playing football, is that’s how I ended up at receiver. Basically, once we got into the normal routine, it was kind of towards the first game. It’s hard for me to place the exact timing of how soon I started jumping in at the scout team, but it was during fall camp,” Gentry said during his appearance on the Bunch of Nuts Podcast on July 13.

“But basically. Coach was like, after we did our warmups and did our punt stuff, he told the punters, “Go jump in with the receivers and run routes,” because he wanted us to work on our hands. He’s like. I don’t want you dropping snaps with the punts or, obviously, holding for PA and field goals. I thought he was joking first.”

Gentry joined the Buckeyes as a walk-on punter. Given his high school career, he understood what it took to play the position. However, Tressel didn’t see special teams as a separate unit that is limited in its skills. For the former Ohio State head coach, every player must enhance their fundamental skills.

For a punter like Gentry, that meant catching balls and improving hand-eye coordination. The coaching staff quickly realized that their punter was good as a wide receiver. In no time, he was asked to transition to the wide receiver position.

“I remember lining up on the left-hand side. I’m in line with these receivers; I got Santonio Holmes and Gonzo and plenty of other amazing receivers, and I run a slant the first time, and after a couple routes, the coach was like, “Man, Gent’s got some hands.” So it’s just I was just doing the position that I loved,” Gentry said.

And it wasn’t just Gentry who impressed the coaching staff. Tressel used AJ Trapasso in different roles. Chris Gamble did everything that a player is humanly capable of during Ohio State’s national title season.

Football Where is Tyson Gentry now?

Tyson Gentry’s football career was cut short after an injury sustained during a spring scrimmage in April 2006. But despite that sad end, he has remained deeply tied to the program and the community. In the same interview, he shared that he remains immensely grateful for his time under Tressel.

The former wide receiver built his life again and became a full-time founder and president of the New Perspective Foundation. He started this organization to help those who had a similar fate to his. Since founding the nonprofit with his wife in 2014, the foundation has given out over $700,000 to assist roughly 350 families.

Almost 20 years after his injury, in May 2026, he authored his autobiography, “Once A Buckeye…: A Story of Football, Family, and Faith.” The book shows how he turned his personal tragedy into the purpose of his life.