A Mac aka The Truth said:
I dont know if you can say that QB is Tressell's thing. He didnt have a clue what he had in Smith and he only stumbled upon him after Zwick was a bust.
Let me put it this way, Tressel is the OC. Jim Bollman is the OC in title only, strictly for the purpose of getting him more money. Anyone close to the program will tell you that. As far as which position is JT's specialty goes, that would definitely be QB. He was a QB position coach before he became a HC (a long, long time ago). During practice, he spends the most time with the QBs and WRs (who practice together, for the most part). No other position is even close, in regards to the time devoted.
JT doesn't touch the defense, and he will be the first to tell you that. He doesn't look at film, he doesn't work on the game plan, he doesn't determine pt, and he certainly doesn't call the plays. He has always surrounded himself with good people, and he trusts them to do their jobs.
How much of Krenzel and Smith's success is due to JT or Joe Daniels (the official QB coach), that I don't know. What I do know is that whenever I hear people talk about OSU's QBs and coaching you hear the name Jim Tressel at least 10 times more than you hear Daniels. Even the players themselves credit JT more than Daniels. Tressel was the second person credited in Troy Smith's Heisman acceptance speach, after only God. Joe Daniels was not mentioned until after Smith had gone through all his family and fellow players, each mentioned individually.
And cdt, Zwick is not a bad QB. Sure, he looks like dog poop relative to Smith, but Smith is the best QB in the country. There aren't many QBs out there that are fit to shine his shoes. Zwick did a great job leading Ohio State to victory against Oklahoma State in the Alamo Bowl just two years ago, a 33 to 7 drubbing. Zwick is not a game breaker like Smith, but he's an above average Big Ten QB. Keep in mind that every time you see him these days he's coming in to run a handful of plays on zero notice, and then he's done. It's hard to develop any rhythm under those circumstances. He also doesn't get half the practice reps that Smith gets. If lead by Zwick, the 2006 Ohio State team still wins all its game except maybe Michigan.