He talked about his vision for Bowling Green and what allowed him to go from zero coaching experience to the FCS playoffs in four years at Tennessee State. What made him the right person for the Tigers\u2019 rebuild is why Bowling Green bet on him: He has the name to attract attention and resources to a program in need of a jolt, but he doesn\u2019t go out of the way to draw attention to his fame, either.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s what he\u2019s leaning into in his first FBS coaching job in the same state where his football hero status began.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been a celebrity in this state for over 30 years. That\u2019s not going anywhere, but when it comes down to it, when I put that whistle around my neck, we are in the heat of battle, I\u2019m training guys or pushing them beyond their comfort zone, that\u2019s a different animal,\u201d George said. \u201cThat? I\u2019m back to my old playing days. That\u2019s the spirit and that\u2019s not to be played with.\u201d<\/p>\n
When George retired from the NFL in 2005 after rushing for more than 10,000 yards, he wanted something different. Tired of the games, the practices and the late nights, he left the sport entirely. His pursuit of other interests led him to unexpected places.<\/p>\n
Even Broadway<\/a>.<\/p>\n During his playing time, George had become interested in acting, but he didn\u2019t start taking it seriously until after he retired. He hired an acting coach and earned roles in multiple plays, making it all the way to New York in 2016 with the long-running musical \u201cChicago.\u201d<\/p>\n On top of acting, he earned his master\u2019s degree in business administration at Northwestern and started businesses in Nashville and Ohio, including a restaurant with multiple locations and the Edward George Wealth Management Group. He was inducted into the Nashville Entrepreneurs\u2019 Hall of Fame in 2023.<\/p>\n He had a good life with his wife, Tamara, and two sons, Eriq and Jaire. The only time he thought about coaching? When building dynasties in the \u201cNCAA Football\u201d video game.<\/p>\n That changed in April 2021 when Tennessee State let go of longtime coach Rod Reed and called George. Another HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), Jackson State, had hired Deion Sanders the previous fall despite his lack of college coaching experience. Now Tennessee State needed some life breathed back into the program after finishing below .500 three years in a row and winning more than seven games just twice in 11 years.<\/p>\n At first, George was hesitant to entertain interest because he didn\u2019t see himself as a coach and didn\u2019t want to be a prop to sell tickets. If he was going to take over the Tigers, he wanted it to be about the players.<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t going to do a reality show tied to it,\u201d George said. \u201cIt\u2019s not about the camera, my hits on Instagram, my content or any of that. There\u2019s a place for all that, but it was important, especially in the beginning, that it not be about me, it be about them.\u201d<\/p>\n The administration committed to George as the coach, not the celebrity, and he considered the job. He talked with his wife about it and thought more about what type of culture and philosophy he wanted to imprint on the team.<\/p>\n Everyone knows George was a talented football player, but his journey beyond football was one worth telling and one he thought he could use to help athletes at Tennessee State.<\/p>\n \u201cIt meant sacrificing a lot of things I had been working on prior to that, acting and business,\u201d George said. \u201cBut the gratification that I got from helping young people and giving them guidance and seeing the light bulb go off \u2014 challenging them and developing them to become leaders is really God\u2019s work.\u201d<\/p>\n Eddie George was a four-time Pro Bowl selection with the Titans. (Al Bello \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n After 15 years away, George loved getting back in the locker room, putting a game plan together and pushing players beyond their limits. He loved returning to the grind of football. But being a first-year head coach with no experience as an assistant isn\u2019t easy. George took over a Tennessee State program with limited resources and got a reality check with all of the off-the-field responsibilities, especially at an FCS school with budget constraints.<\/p>\n Once he got his bearings, the program started trending in the right direction. Though Tennessee State lost three of its first four games under George, it went on a four-game winning streak after that and finished 5-6 in the fall of 2021.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were a lot of moving parts at TSU, from compliance to the players to equipment, making sure lines are on the field, the scheduling \u2014 all of it was overwhelming,\u201d George said. \u201cI had to organize my thoughts, but once I got a rhythm of it and I realized where I needed to spend my time, it was, \u2018OK, the culture has to be felt from top to bottom, period. Excellence all the way through.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n George\u2019s words still come to Rodell Rahmaan\u2019s mind before each of his professional indoor football games with the Omaha Beef.<\/p>\n No mas.<\/p>\n The first time he heard those words in a football setting was days before Tennessee State traveled to Eastern Illinois for a midseason game. The Tigers had won two in a row when George walked into a team meeting and relayed the message of the week.<\/p>\n \u201cHe wanted us to dominate them, have them saying no more, like they\u2019re done,\u201d Rahmaan said.<\/p>\n Tennessee State embraced it and beat Eastern Illinois 28-0, the largest win in George\u2019s first season. With about four minutes left, Rahmaan heard a \u201cno mas\u201d chant break among players.<\/p>\n \u201cI could remember the looks on their faces with our whole team yelling,\u201d Rahmaan said. \u201cEverybody rallied together.\u201d<\/p>\n A graduate of Beechcroft High, 20 minutes from Ohio State, Rahmaan was well aware of who George was when he graduated from Bowling Green in 2020 and transferred to Tennessee State to play for George with his final year of eligibility.<\/p>\n \u201cTo have a legend from your hometown college hold me in that high regard, I felt like I was in heaven getting a call from him,\u201d Rahmaan said.<\/p>\n Rahmaan spent one year with George, who displayed natural coaching instincts despite his inexperience. His playing experience gave him the ability to show players how to do things rather than just telling them. George kept everybody calm, even in high-intensity moments, and found ways to bring out confidence in his team.<\/p>\n Eddie George went 24-22 in his first coaching job, at Tennessee State. (Matt Cashore \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n Still, it wasn\u2019t a straight line of success. The team ended his first season on a three-game losing streak and then backtracked to a 4-7 record in 2022. George saw discipline issues he had to address on his roster and coaching staff. His focus was getting his culture under control as he learned how to coach on the fly.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first year was like, \u2018Do I like this? Do I love it? I don\u2019t know,\u2019\u201d George said. \u201cBut seeing the small wins, I got addicted to it. All the years of preparation and the life after the game prepared me for this.\u201d<\/p>\n The Tigers started 6-2 in 2023 but ended on a three-game losing streak. So in the 2024 offseason, he implemented a new mindset called \u201cnine strong,\u201d which became a phrase used around the facility. George focused on making sure all nine position groups were strong from top to bottom so that at the end of November they were playing their best football.<\/p>\n Last fall, Tennessee State won seven of its final eight games before losing to Montana its first FCS playoff appearance in 11 years.<\/p>\n Three months later, George was watching ESPN when news came across the bottom ticker that caught his eye. Bowling Green head coach Scot Loeffler had left to be the Philadelphia Eagles\u2019 quarterbacks coach<\/a>, an early-spring move that put the Falcons in a precarious position long after the coaching carousel slowed.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a bad situation to be in right now,\u201d George remembered thinking to himself. \u201cI wonder what they\u2019re going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLo and behold, it\u2019s me,\u201d he said recently.<\/p>\n When athletic director Derek Van der Merwe began his search to replace Loeffler, he reached out to former coaches Meyer (2001-02) and Dave Clawson (2009-13). Both told him he had to find a coach who could embrace the community.<\/p>\n Meyer gave Van der Merwe the 51-year-old George\u2019s name.<\/p>\n \u201cI was a little bit skeptical about a Heisman trophy winner and the Titan,\u201d Van der Merwe said. \u201cHe said, \u2018No, do you know Eddie as a person?\u2019 I would say the first phone call I went in thinking how does an individual who has done what he\u2019s done translate into the leader of a college football team? Does he have that heart of service?\u201d<\/p>\n It took one conversation to realize that George was different.<\/p>\n \u201cYou saw a humble spirit, one who understood the value of higher education,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was clearly evident to me that this was a man who spent his life learning, viewed the future and was committed to growth.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2842658-scaled.jpg\")
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