Close to The Vest

With Jim Tressel set to take the Lieutenant Governor's oath of office, former Buckeye QB Terrelle Pryor is expected to be on hand to gift his 2009 Rose Bowl game-worn jersey to his former coach.

Before we begin, I’d be honored if you followed the #brand on TikTok and Instagram, if you’re in those parts.

We’re under 100 followers away from 20,000 on TikTok and just starting on Instagram. I’ve heard the cries to be more active on Facebook… but those folks will have to cry harder.

Apologies! But let’s get into today’s dispatch.

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Former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel will be sworn in as the next Lieutenant Governor in the Statehouse rotunda at 11 a.m. You can bet your sweet ass I’ll be on hand, even if from the cheap seats.

According to one connected source, former Ohio State and NFL quarterback Terrelle Pryor is expected to be in attendance to gift his 2009 game-worn Rose Bowl jersey to his former coach.

The source also revealed that Tressel personally invited Pryor to the ceremony, which is no small thing since Pryor sued the NCAA, Big Ten and Ohio State over Name, Image and Likeness.

I have my criticisms of Tressel. It is ridiculous that he didn’t have to answer one hostile question or expound on his political views before the State Legislature swiftly confirmed him to the new role on Wednesday.

But I’d be lying if I won’t be muttering “Go Bucks” under my breath when Pryor gifts that jersey to Tressel and thus closes the final chapter on “Tatgate” — the faux scandal that seemed hilariously quaint at the time but is now patently absurd in the NIL era.

Nobody got screwed over more than Pryor in that scandal, and it's cool that Tressel extended that invitation to share that kind of stage with his former pupil.

Will Tressel run for governor? When talking to Mahoning Valley media yesterday, he strikingly didn’t rule out the possibility.

From the legendary David Skolnick of vindy.com:

“You know what? You don’t know where you’re going to end up,” Tressel said Wednesday in an interview with Ogden Newspapers’ editors and reporters, including The Vindicator and Tribune Chronicle.

The pictures of Tressel taking the oath in the Statehouse’s majestic rotunda will stand in stark contrast to that time notorious conman Vivek Ramaswamy once posed with me in a Raising Cane’s parking lot because I had duped him into thinking he was about to address the Ohio State football team during preseason camp.

One source revealed last night that JobsOhio and the state government's “economic development wing” are elated with Tressel’s selection, as Tressel “believes 100% in their mission.”

Even if Donald Trump endorses Ramaswamy—which is no sure thing, as The Rooster reported last week, he’d still be a brown man named Vivek Ramaswamy in a Republican primary going against a former Ohio State football coach with a sterling reputation among voters.

I’d feel bad for Ramaswamy if only he hadn’t gotten into bed with the party currently trying to send us back to the 1950s by repealing the 1960s. Seeing that bum reap the whirlwind on that front would be funny. Nothing more. Nothing less.

A lot can change in two years, especially if Tressel decides he loathes government life. But he is accustomed to commanding respect and wielding power, and when polls show you can basically walk into the state’s top political office, well, suddenly, it doesn’t seem like much of a decision at all.

Reactionary politics aside, you must hand it to Governor Mike DeWine on this selection. It’s no secret that he is no fan of Ramaswamy (to put it lightly), and he has found in Tressel perhaps the only man who could drum him out of the Republican primary.

That’s a hard, unexpected turn of events for Ramaswamy, considering just a couple of weeks ago, he was willing to challenge sitting Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted in an open gubernatorial primary.

You’ll probably remember that Husted, who has an empty lunchbox where his brain is supposed to be, cut and ran to Washington D.C. after accepting a Senate appointment he didn’t want rather than throw down with Ramaswamy.

Blind Item: Booze-fueled Senate retreat at Florida resort ends predictably for half-naked fossil fuel lobbyist