College Football Hall of Fame running back Eddie George is now the head coach of the Bowling Green Falcons.
Bowling Green made the announcement on Sunday. George spent nine years in the NFL as the bellcow back for the Tennessee Titans, previously known as the Houston and Tennessee Oilers. The Ohio native previously spent four years as head coach of Tennessee State, taking the program from middling in its own conference to the FCS playoffs in that span.
University President Rodney K. Rogers stated, “Throughout his career in and outside of football, Eddie has embraced innovation and a growth mindset, founded in work ethic with a willingness to embrace continued learning and taking risks, when appropriate. These are core principles at Bowling Green and the reason we are experiencing the momentum we see today. Eddie is uniquely positioned to bring this mindset to our football program, leveraging our momentum and generating excitement in this shifting landscape of collegiate sports.”
The hire also earned praise from College Football Hall of Fame coach Urban Meyer, who served as head coach of Bowling Green from 2001 to 2002, and lieutenant governor of Ohio and former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel.
George said Bowling Green is a “wonderful community that has embraced the school and the athletics department.”
“We are eager to immerse ourselves in the community and help build this program to the greatness it deserves. I am overwhelmed with excitement and joy for the possibilities this opportunity holds. I’m also thrilled to be back in the great state of Ohio, where I played my college football,” he said.
George was recruited to Ohio State in 1992. As a senior in 1995, he set the school’s single-season rushing record with 1,927 yards and 24 touchdowns. He was a unanimous All-American and won the Heisman Trophy, the Walter Camp Award, the Maxwell Award, the Doak Walker Award, Big Ten MVP, and Offensive Player of the Year.George was drafted out of Ohio State by the Houston Oilers in 1996. He won the NFL Rookie of the Year award that same year. He served as the bellcow back in the Oilers’ offense, never missing a start in all eight seasons he spent with the Oilers and Titans.
He received four Pro Bowl nods from 1997 to 2000, and was part of the Tennessee Titans team that appeared in Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000. He rushed for 1,000 yards in seven of his eight seasons with the Oilers and Titans, and to this day holds 28 different rushing records for the team, including rushing attempts in a season, rookie season, and career, rushing yards in a career, total TDs in a career, yards from scrimmage in a career and a rookie season, and all purpose yards in a career. He and Jim Brown are the only two running backs in history to never miss a start and rush for 10,000 yards. His 130 consecutive games played is second only to Walter Payton’s 170 in NFL history.
George was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2011 and was a semifinalist for the NFL Hall of Fame in 2021. His jersey number, 27, was retired by the Titans in 2019.
After football, George went into business. He earned an MBA from Northwestern University in 2009. He is managing partner of his own wealth management firm, The Edward George Wealth Management Group. He also founded a landscape architecture and design firm, the EDGE Group, and runs a charity with his wife. In addition, he taught courses in the business side of professional sports at Ohio State and Vanderbilt University.
He was hired as head coach of the Tennessee State Tigers in 2021. The Tigers struggled in his first two seasons, going 5–6 in 2021 and 4–7 in 2022. However, he was able to turn the team around, earning a winning record of 6–5 in 2023, and leading Tennessee State to a 9–4 record, a Big South-OVC Football Association conference co-championship, and an appearance in the FCS playoffs. George won the conference’s Coach of the Year award for his leadership.
George is replacing outgoing head coach Scot Loeffler, who joined the Philadelphia Eagles as quarterbacks coach.
