Eddie George To Become Next Bowling Green Head Coach!!!

(George as Tennessee State HC)

    Eddie George is set to become the next HC for our Falcons per the Toledo Blade. I only heard his name come up in the last 30 hours or so and now David Briggs from the Toledo Blade reports it is a done deal as George beat out UMass OC Mike Bajakian and Oklahoma State QB Coach Kevin Johns. I was initially hoping we stole Mercer HC Mike Jacobs because the number one thing I wanted in our next coach was previous head coaching experience. Given the new names including Minnesota's DC and Kentucky's Associate HC I then was drawn to Kevin Johns who has a lot of OC experience and could utilize a running QB. However quickly after Eddie George was brought up I sold myself that this would be a great hire. 

Background: 

    Eddie George is a legendary Ohio football name. He won the 1995 Heisman trophy with Ohio State and then was a 1st round pick to the Houston Oilers. George would then go on to have 7 1,000 yard rushing seasons in the NFL over 9 years and in 2011 was inducted into the CFB Hall of Fame. 

    George would then get hired by Tennessee State (FCS) as their Head Coach out of the blue, zero coaching experience. He would reward the school's faith in him by getting them to the playoffs in his 4th season with a conference championship as well. TSU has really struggled in football for about a decade prior to George's hire so there is no doubt he did a fantastic job there. So, Eddie George checks my biggest box of having Head Coaching experience. 

Moving Forward?

    The MAC may not be a giant leap up from FCS football but it is a jump none the less. I will be VERY interested to see who George hires on the staff. I knew the Mike Jinks hire was for sure going to be a disaster because both his co-OCs had ZERO prior OC experience AND his DC had none as well. So a HC who never stepped foot in Ohio and only had 4 years college coaching experience surrounded himself with people with even less experience. Disaster incoming. Since George is a previous HC he knows how to run a program but he is still an infant in coaching circles so I hope similar to Coach Loeffler he gets a mix of young coaches with veteran coaches who can help guide him in FBS football. 

    

    I will say I am sold on his name helping BGSU as well. If a former Ohio State Heisman trophy winner cannot get more donations or spark the team I don't know what can. I am hoping that his name alone can get a bunch of random dads across Ohio to care to tune into BG football. If just 5% of Ohio State fans can adopt us as their secondary team and if ESPN and CBS talking about our coaching hire more than just one little article because Eddie George had an amazing college and NFL career than hopefully we can generate more fans and interest in the team. I am sure some older NFL fans will hear the name Eddie George and be curious as to who the BG Falcons are compared to see the headline of BGSU stealing UMass' OC. 

Final Thoughts

    Prior Head Coaching experience, he has it. A big name to generate some buzz around BG football? Yes, and I never thought that would ever happen for an average MAC school, where the hire has actual national media juice. Finally, will this help us finally gain a talent edge over other MAC schools? Hopefully. I am hoping George can tout about how he clearly knows how to win as a Head Coach, clearly knows how to become a great player, and players will yearn to be mentored by a guy who could literally bring his Heisman trophy into a recruits home. He had an amazing NFL career and I hope especially in the portal era there will be plenty of players who could leave the Big10 or SEC for BGSU to hope Eddie George can squeeze some greatness out of them in their last chance to go to the NFL. As I say that I want to finish this by restating that unless he surrounds himself with good coaches he cannot do it alone. I am confident he knows this already being a head man and am sold this is a super fun hire that regardless of on field results he can spark the BGSU community to increase support, money, which will lead to better players and hopefully his name brings us some new fans along the way!

Ay Ziggy!!