George Opening Presser Big Hit

 Well, Eddie George won the press conference.  What would you expect...the guy's been on Broadway in movies and TV?

No, it was a tour de force.  The Falcon Nation is picking up pitchforks and icepiks and riding to the sound of the battle.

I've got a couple highlights...but you owe it to yourself to listen to the whole thing.  Win or lose...we've never had a coach like this before.

First Van Der Merwe spoke.  (Actually, first Rogers spoke).  In DVDM's part, he said that he reached out to Urban Meyer for names we could talk to.  Urban gave him only one:  Eddie George.  The Lieutenant Governor also gave a strong recommendation for Eddie George.

George said that winning the MAC this year is the goal.  Long-term, beat UT, win the MAC, compete for the national championship.

When asked about the rivalry, he said, "I don't embrace it.  I don't embrace it at all.  When it comes, we are going to put our hands in the dirt and give them the iron fist."  (In fairness, he went on to give respect to the Rocket program).

There was a question from an OSU Blogger, who said that he was eventually doing Tennessee State a favor when he took the job originally.  He largely confirmed that.  He was living in Nashville (letting his blood warm up from the midwest cold), presumably because of his wife's music career.  The program was in real trouble.  He didn't want to coach, but eventually grew to be interested in the idea.

He says we will put a fence around Ohio.  This is a strategy for raising an NIL "warchest" for strategic purposes, but we will mostly "drawing a fence around Ohio" and seekto recruit and develop high school players, which is what he largely did at Tennessee State.

His son plays at TN State as well.

He showed real empathy for the BG assistants left behind.  He knows they are in the balance at a terrible time to find another job.  He will interview them as his first order of business so that he can provide them clarity to their future.  

Last part I really liked was that he is going to assess who we have and then adapt his approach to what they do best.  That's fantastic.  I hate it when coaches come in and say that they are going to take 3 years to install their system.  If you're a coach, you should be able to coach more than one way.  We are going to play physical.  He mentioned it several times.  Of course, you're going to need that in the MAC.

He also said that this is not a rebuild.  Loeffler got us to good.  He wants to take us to elite.

I think we're going to put some people in the stands this year.  His enthusiasm and determination is contagious.

Again, the whole presser is outstanding.  Take a listen.

Welcome to the Falcons, Eddie.  Beat Toledo.

Supplemental reading:

1.    NY Times article:  "Why would Eddie George accept the challenge at Tennessee State?"

2.    The challenge at Tennessee Tech.

• Eddie George led Tennessee State University's football program to back-to-back winning seasons in 2023 and 2024. 
• This was the first time the Tigers had consecutive winning seasons since 2016-17. 
• In 2024, the Tigers had their most wins since 2013 and a national ranking of 19. 
• Before George took over, the Tigers averaged just over three wins per year for four seasons. 
• In 2024, the Tigers had a 9-4 record and shared the Big South-OVC conference title. 
• In 2024, George was coach-of-the-year

3.    TSU is in real financial trouble....here and here.

4.    TSU Tiger Terrell Allen won the Buck Buchanan award in 2023 as top FCS player.

5.    LB Sanders Ellis was the 2024 defensive FR of the year.

6.    George had this to say about his Broadway gig.

7.    George scored his first NCAA TD against BG!