First-time coach George will try to uplift Tigers
NASHVILLE — Tennessee State is banking on Eddie George’s name, connections and football knowledge as a former NFL running back to return the proud program with 13 Black national championships to national prominence.
The historically Black university introduced George at a news conference Tuesday inside the Gentry Center with the school’s Aristocrat of Bands on hand. Tennessee State athletic director Mikki Allen said his priority when hired a year ago was to renew the standard of excellence, and he believes he found his man in George, a four-time Pro Bowl running back with the Tennessee Titans and the 1995
Heisman Trophy winner with Ohio State.
“He’s dynamic. He’s charismatic. He’s energetic and magnetic and has all the tools necessary to build a championship-level program here at the Tennessee State University,” Allen said.
The Tigers went 58-61 with just one appearance in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs in the past 11 seasons under Rod Reed, including a 2-5 record this year in an Ohio Valley Conference-only schedule that wrapped up with a 46-23 loss to Southeast Missouri on Sunday. The following day, Tennessee State announced Reed’s contract would not be renewed.
While George is a high-profile addition, having rushed for 10,441 yards in a nine-year NFL career that ended after the 2004 season, the 47-year-old is also a first-time coach.
“The No. 1 goal is to win and bring prominence back to this university where it belongs,” said George, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
In emphasizing his familiarity with the program, George ticked off the names of past coaches, from Henry Kean and John A. Merritt to Joe Gilliam Sr., and players including Richard Dent and Claude Humphrey, both of whom went on to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. George noted that when it comes to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tennessee State is No. 1 for producing NFL players.
“Very aware, extremely aware of the rich history here, and I get it,” George said. “So taking this job on carries a lot. I have some big shoes to fill. But I feel like I’m the man to get the job done.”
At first, George told TSU no. His wife, actor and singer-songwriter Taj George, encouraged him to take the job. George said he consulted with his former Titans coach, Jeff Fisher, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel and Cincinnati Bengals coach Luke Fickell about what a head coach does.
He called this opportunity a huge responsibility he doesn’t take lightly and noted the buzz another HBCU generated when it hired former Florida State and NFL star Deion Sanders.
“I have to to be honest,”
George said. “When I had some excitement about it, ‘Man, it’d be pretty cool to be a head coach,’ — I’ve seen what Deion has down at Jackson State, the energy he’s created.”
Reed told reporters after his final game that the program had been dealing with budget cuts, with no players in summer school the past five years and no real recruiting budget, either.
George said he and Allen have talked about the resources needed to take the Tigers to the top of the OVC and then compete for NCAA championships.
“We’re chasing North Dakota State,” the Tennessee State AD said. “We want to win national titles. We don’t just want to win conference titles, so there’s a commitment financially that goes into that.”