The Ohio State University football team started in 1890 with a very small team. Jack Ryder was the first coach earning $15 a week. For half a century, except for one championship in 1942, Ohio State wasn’t the best until they met a new coach. Woody Hayes was Ohio State’s coach from 1951 to 1978 and made Ohio State the powerhouse they are today by winning five national championships. After Woody Hayes got fired for punching a Clemson player, Ohio State went through a drought of good seasons until Jim Tressel was hired in 2000 and won a championship in 2002 and had some good seasons.