INDIANAPOLIS -- Jim Tressel is heading to the NFL.

The disgraced former Ohio State coach was hired Friday by the Indianapolis Colts as a game-day consultant to help determine when the team should challenge plays. Coach Jim Caldwell said it was a position he's wanted to fill for the past couple of years.

"He's a guy I have known for quite some time and have a good relationship with," Caldwell said during a conference call. "We have hired him as a game-day consultant. He was around last night and will be working with us next week."

Caldwell did not provide details on the friendship, but it's likely the two crossed paths on the recruiting trail in the 1980s and early 1990s when both were coaching quarterbacks at big-time schools.

Tressel was an assistant at Syracuse in 1981 and 1982 before taking a similar post at Ohio State from 1983-85, then leaving to take the Youngstown State job in 1986. Caldwell coached quarterbacks at Penn State from 1987-92. He coached at Northwestern, Colorado and Louisville, too, before joining Joe Paterno's staff.

The Colts are also familiar with Tressel because of their pre-draft scouting work. Indy vice chairman Bill Polian normally consults with a player's college coach before drafting a player, and Indianapolis has had a handful of ex-Buckeyes come through the team's complex over the past 10 years. The list includes safety Mike Doss, receivers Anthony Gonzalez and Roy Hall, tight end Ben Hartsock and defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock. Gonzalez is the only draft pick among that group still with the team.

Tressel had been actively seeking employment after resigning from Ohio State on May 30 amid a damaging NCAA scandal. He had been seen at practices in Cleveland and Indianapolis recently and attended the Colts' preseason finale Thursday in Cincinnati.

But his job with the Colts, Caldwell said, will be limited exclusively to working game days from the coaches' booth. Tressel did not respond immediately to a text message sent by The Associated Press.

"Like I said, he'll work different aspects for me, more in particular as a replay consultant so the guys up in the box can concentrate strictly on their position," Caldwell said. "That's where we'll utilize him."