A Vivek Ramaswamy-Jim Tressel matchup for the Republican gubernatorial nomination would have been fascinating.

But Tressel, who went from retired Youngstown State University president and a famed former college football coach to being appointed lieutenant governor, opted not to run in 2026 for governor.

It never seemed that Tressel’s heart was in a governor’s campaign. It’s understandable considering he was named lieutenant governor a little more than seven months ago after never running for public office.

Tressel constantly deflected questions about his candidacy while only saying a few times that he had not completely ruled it out.

The speculation about Tressel for governor started with the stunning Feb. 10 announcement by Gov. Mike DeWine that he chose the retired YSU president and former coach as his lieutenant governor. This came after DeWine appointed Jon Husted, the former lieutenant governor, to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by J.D. Vance, who was elected vice president.

Only two days after the Tressel announcement, I pressed him on running for governor.

Tressel said: “I wouldn’t rule it out,” adding, “You know what? You don’t know where you’re going to end up.”

Tressel’s rise in politics was among the quickest in the state’s history. He was at his Medina home when DeWine visited him Feb. 1, determined to make Tressel his lieutenant governor. Tressel accepted.

At the time, the only announced GOP gubernatorial candidate was Attorney General Dave Yost.

But Ramaswamy was waiting in the wings and once he announced his candidacy for governor on Feb. 24, he was the clear front-runner for the Republican nomination.

The expectation that Ramaswamy would declare was enough to get Treasurer Robert Sprague out of the gubernatorial race — he’s running for secretary of state next year — and to also endorse Ramaswamy, a wealthy biotech entrepreneur.

With Ohio electing only Republicans for statewide executive branch seats since 2010, Ramaswamy is also the favorite to capture the governor’s position next year.

A few hours after Ramaswamy’s announcement about running for governor, he picked up the endorsement of President Donald Trump.

At DeWine’s urging, Tressel didn’t rule out a run, but remained noncommittal.

Right before the Ohio Republican Party’s May 8 endorsement of Ramaswamy for governor, Tressel again said he was thinking of a possible run. But even with those words and the urging of DeWine to hold off on an unprecedented early endorsement, the Ohio Republican Party voted to back Ramaswamy. Shortly after that, Yost quit the race.

The day before that endorsement, DeWine told me: “I think very highly of him. I think he could serve exceedingly well as governor or I wouldn’t have appointed him as lieutenant governor.”

DeWine added that Tressel “just exceeds any expectations I had and I had very, very high expectations” of him as lieutenant governor.

But it became quite apparent after the party’s endorsement of Ramaswamy that Tressel didn’t have the stomach to run his first political campaign for the state’s highest office against Ramaswamy, who had the backing of the GOP establishment and Trump.

When I saw Tressel recently, he was asked about running for governor. Speaking as someone who had likely already made up his mind, Tressel said he wouldn’t address the issue and “we’ll worry about” it “down the road.”

Of his time as lieutenant governor, Tressel said it’s “been fun. I was happily retired, but I’m also happy to be out doing whatever I can.”

For Tressel, “down the road” was Sept. 19 when he announced he decided not to run for governor in 2026.

With Ramaswamy guaranteed to be the Republican nominee for governor, the only question left is who will be the Democratic nominee.

Dr. Amy Acton, a Youngstown native who rose to prominence during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic, is the only announced Democratic candidate, having declared in January.

The only possible other contender is Tim Ryan, the former 20-year congressman who represented the Mahoning Valley.

Ryan had talked late last year about running for governor, but had ruled it out when it appeared Sherrod Brown, a former U.S. senator, was going to seek the position. Instead, Brown chose to run against Husted for the Senate.

That renewed Ryan’s interest in the position.

Ryan serves as a consultant and advocate for a number of organizations, including those involved in promoting natural gas and cryptocurrency.

Ryan put himself on a self-imposed deadline of Tuesday to decide if he would run for governor though he recently told a Columbus television station that he might take a little longer to decide.

Regardless of whether Ryan runs, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee is going to struggle against Ramaswamy.

A Democrat hasn’t won a statewide executive branch election since 2008 and hasn’t won the governor’s race since 2006.

Republicans have won all but one Ohio governor election since 1990.

Add that to the breathtaking amount of money Ramaswamy will continue to raise for the office and Democrats will face a challenge to capture the post next year.

David Skolnick covers politics for the Tribune Chronicle and The Vindicator.