As a first-time coach, Eddie George plans to rely on lessons he learned as an NFL player, from his earliest days in the league to arguably the most dramatic – and disappointing – moment he experienced.
The Tennessee Titans’ all-time leading rusher was named the head coach at Tennessee State University, an HBCU institution in Nashville, three months ago. It is the latest step in a varied and successful post-playing career that has included – but not been limited to – profitable business ventures and an acting career that featured performances on Broadway and in Hollywood.
George talked about his quickly evolving approach to his new profession in an SI.com feature published Tuesday.
One of the seminal moments of his playing career, the final play of Super Bowl XXXIV, will have a profound place in his coaching as well. After George scored a pair of second-half touchdowns, the Titans ultimately lost that game 23-16 to the Los Angeles Rams when wide receiver Kevin Dyson was tackled one yard short of a tying touchdown as time expired.
“If we had a second chance to be on that 1-yard line, if we had to go back in time and do that, we would get the yard,” George says. “But I look at that situation in my opportunity now as TSU’s coach.
“I am at the 1-yard line and I can infuse and impose my spirit on these young men to cross that for me and win their own championships and that to me is a blessing. I am going to win my championships in a different way.”
He made it clear, though, that he will not wait for such a moment in order to impart that unrelenting mindset.
George first heard it as a rookie in 1996 with the then-Houston Oilers. It came from Sherman Smith, his position coach for each of his eight years with the franchise, which eventually became the Titans.
“Every time I played, [Smith] told me to set the tone, get through the line of scrimmage, hunt for the safeties, don’t let them off the hook,” George says. “I took Smith’s advice to heart when I was a player because I now know what it means to set the tone—not just as a player anymore—but for my players and coaching staff and moving this program forward with the right resources.”
At 47 years old, George has taken the reins of a program that is far removed from its days as a national power. From 1968-78, NFL teams drafted 42 Tennessee State players. Two players from that program, Richard Dent and Claude Humphrey, are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Currently a member of the Ohio Valley Conference in the Football Championship Subdivision, TSU has not won a conference championship since 1999, has not been to the FCS playoffs since 2013 and has not had a winning season since 2017.
“This is not a university foreign to excellence,” George said. “The bones of a good program are here. It is time to bring it all together and take it to the next level.
“… The No. 1 opponent to our success right now is us. Greatness is done in the details, so I want [players] to understand that there is a level of sacrifice, courage and tenacity to be great and they have to be willing to walk through that because it’s not for everybody.”
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