BOWLING GREEN – A run-of-the-mill introductory press conference hosted a small crew of local journalists, all eager to ask questions about the future to the new coach. But the introduction of 1995 Heisman winner and new Bowling Green head coach Eddie George on March 10 was anything but run-of-the-mill.
In fact, it mirrored a red-carpet event with a heavy focus on George’s well-known accomplishments over his long and successful career.
George was joined by hundreds of adoring Bowling Green and Ohio State fans lined with pictures, jerseys and footballs, hoping they would be lucky enough to get as much as an initial signed on their memorabilia.
“I saw the news on Saturday morning and my jaw hit the floor,” exclaimed Falcon fan Steve Leid. “Then yesterday at work, a friend of mine got a notification on his phone saying that it was a done deal, and wow, there has just been a buzz in the air ever since.”
Leid was clutching four images on printer paper; two were of the initial announcement released by BGSU and one was of a diving George hurdling a defender during his Ohio State days from 1992-1995. The final image was the most telling of the hire. It was a simple picture of George standing on the sidelines during his coaching time at Tennessee State University, which was the last place he coached, which was from 2021-2024.
Yes, the celebrity of the hire brings a lot of publicity to BGSU, as well as many recruits who will inevitably be excited to play for the all-time rushing leader for the NFL’s Tennessee Titans.
What George did at Tennessee State was exactly what got him hired. Through his four years at TSU, he was able to accumulate back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2016-2017, in addition to making the FCS playoffs for the first time since 2013.
“Urban Meyer and Dave Clawson both made the exact same remark to me, and I put this in my coaching profile: Someone who is always building on what we have and is not focused on what we don’t have,” BGSU’s athletic director Derek van der Merwe said.
That was the key to this slam dunk hire by the Orange and Brown – someone who can succeed no matter the circumstances, a characteristic that George displayed time and time again in his playing and coaching career.
George’s first collegiate touchdown was scored in Columbus, Ohio against none other than the Falcons. With a mighty career sparked by that milestone at BGSU, it seemed almost fated that the legend would become a Falcon.
“It’s been so long…it was my freshman year and that was actually the touchdown that started ‘Touchdown Eddie.’ Flying in here to Ohio and coming back to this region, to this part of the country…it brought back just a rush of memories. The sunsets are different here and the community is so strong,” George said.
Despite saying he would embrace the state of Ohio, there was one crucial location in the state that the coach alluded to which would be a priority in the most hated way.
“I don’t embrace it,” he said about the Toledo rivalry. “There’s only one thing that we are going to do. Put that ball in the dirt and let them feel the iron fist,” George proclaimed.
The first true test for the Buckeye and Titans legend will be on Aug. 28 when the Falcons will play their first game of the 2025 season against Lafayette at Doyt L. Perry Stadium in Bowling Green.
To get a true taste of the rivalry, it will be a bit longer: The home game is scheduled for Oct. 11, the first time that George will battle his new “team up north.”
“What I do know is that we are going to play fast, we’ll be physical, we’ll be disciplined and we will let the scoreboard take care of itself,” George told the media, fans and BGSU. “That’s the goal; we will be physical.”
