USF’s colorful new DC Tresey: “I’m a little bit Type A”

Posted Sep 4, 2009 by Brett McMurphy

Updated Sep 4, 2009 at 02:12 PM

Here’s a few items before I go AWOL for the rest of the day - unless, of course, USF’s compliance department suddenly discovers that Matt Grothe or George Selvie actually have been at USF since 2002 and their eligibility ended two years ago.

Below I’ve posted my story on new USF defensive coordinator Joe Tresey that will run on the front page of Saturday’s Tampa Tribune.

Also if you haven’t heard, the Tribune/TBO.com Picks! Contest! Deadline! is near! Please click here to participate. Once on the page, if not registered, on the left side of the page is where new users can register. It’s so simple, even a sports writer can do it. The picks deadline is 7 p.m. Saturday.

Tomorrow, I will post on the blog my season prediction for USF. For those that don’t remember - or have conveniently erased from your memory my 412 previous references to correctly predicting USF in the Sun Bowl two years ago - last year I predicted USF in St. Pete Bowl (right) vs. East Carolina (wrong) and the year before predicted USF in Sun Bowl (right) vs. Oregon (right).

Also, I’m picking USF to beat Wofford 31-14. If you care on my predictions for the rest of the Big East’s games, please click here.

Here’s my feature on Tresey:

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Joe Tresey, the 51-year old son of a steelworker who grew up in the self-proclaimed “snowbelt” of Warren, Ohio, is broiling under the Tampa sun on an August afternoon.

The heat index on the University of South Florida’s practice field is 112 degrees.

It’s about to get even hotter.

A USF defensive player makes a mental mistake and Tresey, USF’s new defensive coordinator, rushes over to correct the mistake.

“Tresey definitely takes it to another level,” USF safety Jerrell Young said. “I’ve never had a coach like that: high school, Little League, anywhere.”

Cincinnati safety Aaron Webster, who played the past two seasons for Tresey, knows what’s in store for the Bulls this season: a colorful character that prefers to use some, uh, colorful nouns, adjectives and even adverbs.

“This guy is a really intense guy,” Webster said. “People take it the wrong way. They think because he’s so intense, he’s rude. He really isn’t. He really loves the game and his players. I respect him for that.”

Tresey’s coaching style is high-decibel, high-octane, high-energy and – did we mention high-decibel? When Tresey was hired at USF, he gave the Bulls a quick primer.

“He came in and told his life story,” nose tackle Terrell McClain said. “The way he expresses his feelings is because he used to work in the steel mill. That’s some crazy stuff.”

Tresey grew up in Warren, Ohio. Tresey’s father, Joe, spent his whole life working in the steel mills and his mother, Ann, was a waitress.

His parents and his sister all lived in a 1,200-square foot ranch that didn’t have air conditioning or a garage.

It was all Tresey knew.

“I thought it was a nice house,” he said. “But when it snowed, you had to go outside to clean off the car. Now that was a bummer.”

A bummer for Tresey these days is missing Nightline.

Over the summer, Tresey shared an apartment with USF’s new linebackers coach David Blackwell and new tight ends coach Steve Bird. The three coaches bonded, discussing coaching and personal philosophies.

But toward the end of each night, the real battle began: who got the television remote.

Blackwell and Bird were content with watching “Deadliest Catch” marathons. Tresey would just sit there and wait.

“He’d be real quiet until we’d leave the room to get something to drink,” Bird said. “Then he’d reach over and grab the remote and turn it to Nightline. If he didn’t have his Nightline, he was hurting.”

Tresey admits it’s true.

“I’ve got to watch it every night,” he said. “I grew up with Ted Koppel. You’ve got to find out what’s going on in the world affairs.”

In February, Tresey’s world was disrupted when he was fired by Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly after two successful seasons.

“I wanted to go from teaching Spanish to teaching Russian, in terms of going from (a 4-3 to a 3-4) defensive structure,” Kelly said. “It’s not in his wheelhouse. He was not comfortable with that.
“Philosophically where I wanted to go, I was going to put him in a tough position. I felt like it would be better for both of us if we went in a different direction.”

Kelly said that Tresey’s defenses at USF will be “first and foremost” fundamentally sound.

“They will not do anything defensively that is not sound,” Kelly said. “He’s probably one of the best I’ve been around in the preparation end as far as putting your kids in a good position to succeed.

“And he’s just a super guy, a good person. When you meet him you go ‘that’s a good guy! That’s a good guy!’ And he’s a sincere guy. There’s no BS about Joe Tresey.”

Tresey realizes his style of coaching may require an adjustment period for some.

“Probably (a player’s first impression of me is) I’m a little bit ‘type A,’ a little bit over the wall sometimes,” Tresey said. “But you know what? I make it a point to tell them I care about young people. I do what I do, I’ve done it for 30 years, because I love being around them.”

Webster said he enjoyed his two years playing for Tresey.

“For me Joe Tresey is hands on,” Webster said. “He tries to find what you’re bad it and improve it right from the get go. He wants to improve on your flaws.

“He’s also – I don’t want to say over the top – he’s an exciting guy, though. He gets in your face and let’s you know how he feels. He’s a very different guy.

“If you want somebody different and new, Joe Tresey is your guy.”