Eddie George Reflects On Life Lately

Photo Credit: Jessica Steddom

FROM WINNING A HEISMAN TROPHY TO PLAYING IN THE NFL TO HIS CURRENT GIG AS THE HEAD COACH OF TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY, EDDIE GEORGE IS A MAN WHO HAS ALWAYS HAD A PLAN —AND HAS ALWAYS PLAYED TO WIN. 

BY LAURA SCHREFFLER

PHOTOGRAPHY JESSICA STEDDOM

GROOMING ERICA BEUKELMAN

SHOT ON LOCATION AT THE NOELLE HOTEL, NASHVILLE, TENN.

Some people are born to do one thing, and some — like Eddie George — are born to excel at many.

It’s been nearly 30 years since George was a Heisman Trophy winner for the Ohio State Buckeyes and 18 since he retired from the NFL as a running back for the Dallas Cowboys, but it is only now, at 51, that George truly feels like he’s found his life’s purpose. It wasn’t until he became the 22^nd head football coach of Tennessee State University in 2021 that he had this epiphany.

“My purpose is 100 percent to help young men find their God-given purpose,” he says. “I think I’ve done that by sharing my experiences, my variances, my accomplishments, and certainly my failures and setbacks — showing that I have genuine faith in God’s plan. It’s that simple. And I think it takes a lot to find that, and that it’s still being defined. I mean, your purpose is forever changing until the day you leave this Earth. You’re always learning something, always teaching somebody something.”

The teaching part intrigues me, especially because George confesses that, every season since he started, he has his players “do something that’s very annoying. I know they’re going to hate it in the moment, but in the end, later down the line, they’ll love me for it.”

He says this so confidently that I instantly believe him — without even knowing his master plan. But as soon as he says it, I also know that it’s a good one. “I have them write out their legacy plans,” he says, explaining, “Before they come into camp, I give them a blank sheet of paper, where they can write down anything they’ve already accomplished, what they want to accomplish in the future, the number of kids and the businesses they want to have, the amount of money and the impact they want to make, their roles, goals, and circle of influence. I want them to be really crystal clear about their vision; about what they want. Then, over the course of camp, we talk about their plans — and what comes out of these conversations is clarity. I tell them to think really big, to go for that God-sized dream, that the problem with setting goals that are too small is that you just might reach them, and then what? I try to encourage them to think big, to think broad, to think deep.”

Photo Credit: Jessica Steddom

I’d say he’s doing an amazing job (even if he didn’t practice what he now preaches until post-retirement himself) — especially because this is not a job that he thought he’d find himself actually doing.

“I was perfectly complacent with the life that I was living prior to coaching,” he admits. “I was building my wealth management business, I was teaching at Ohio State, I was acting on Broadway, and I was doing various television shows. My goal was to be the first man to be defined as a HEGOT— someone who has won a Heisman, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award — but then, I was presented with this opportunity by Glenda Glover, the former president of Tennessee State. I thought she was batshit crazy when she asked me to do it. I was like, I haven’t coached! I don’t care for coaching. Talk to me about wealth management, building up a portfolio. But me coaching? That’s not it. She said, ‘Well, just think about it; I can’t let you say no. I really feel in my spirit that this would be right for you.’ And I thought about it, and a Pandora’s box of ideas just started opening up inside of me. I realized this could be a wonderful opportunity to really refurbish a program that was once excellent but is now downtrodden.”

Glover’s persistence paid off. Though George’s initial answer was “no,” her belief resonated with him. He had to ask himself a hard truth: if he didn’t move forward, would it be something he’d regret later on, for the rest of his life? Clearly, we know the answer.

“In my heart, I was like, yeah, let’s at least give it a shot and make an impact on lives. See what happens. And three years later, here I am.”

Although the team isn’t where he’d like them to be in terms of wins — at the time of our chat, they were four and two — he’s perfectly happy with who his guys have become as people, and also knows that his impact as a mentor is being keenly felt. “It’s all about pushing these young men to think outside their comfort zone. A byproduct of that is that you’re going to get a better player. I know now how to coach them — not to play football, but to play in life. I understand what they want because they want to be great; I can coach them to that greatness. And if they don’t want that, that’s fine too, but that’s the way I look at it now. It’s bigger than just teaching life — it’s teaching habits, it’s teaching a mindset, but also pursuing a purpose, which is a lifelong journey.”

Although he had great mentors along the way during his own personal journey — his mother, his high school coach, his uncles, his friends — it wasn’t until he met Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis that he discovered this purpose. He took an acting class with The Motherfucker with the Hat scribe several years ago, who had him do an exercise with this very specific intention.

“What I found was that it wasn’t about the awards or about the money that I made. But I didn’t really know what it was. And that’s why I challenge these kids now, because I wish I had this early on, to think about and carry me through.”

To his guys, George is the gift that keeps on giving, especially when he’s giving actual gifts. What his players don’t know (but they might soon!) is that on their Senior Day, he’s going to give them those very legacy lists they made, framed, so they can look back at the things they might have accomplished or actually did achieve, a way to reflect on where they were at during this particular stage of their lives.

Photo Credit: Jessica Steddom

Though his own list is newer, George is still able to employ this himself, because his life seems to ebb and flow in five-year waves, he says, and sometimes, looking back at his achievements is like looking through a sepia-toned photo album that blossoms into color — both so long ago, and yet, so fresh.

Looking back, he might see a photograph of his life growing up in Philadelphia, where he lived until the tenth grade before transferring to Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia, a place he decided to stay on for a fifth prep school year because he really responded to “the discipline, the focus, the hard work, the persistence of dedication, the grind, dreaming at night, setting big goals” that he was taught there. Simultaneously, this was a decision that changed his life in that it was during this final year that he attracted the attention of several major colleges after rushing for 1,372 yards in his postgraduate season — including the school he eventually chose, Ohio State University. Turning the album pages, he’d see the Heisman he won in 1995,

that very season that he rushed for a school record 1,927 yards and 24 touchdowns, an average of 148.23 yards per game, while also catching 47 passes for 417 yards and another score. He left Ohio State second in school history in career rushing yards (3,768) and third in rushing touchdowns (44), finishing with 4,284 all-purpose yards, 45 touchdowns, and a 5.5 yards-per-carry average. Moving on, he would see himself become a first-round pick in the 1996 NFL Draft, where he’d be signed by the then-Houston Oilers, see himself win the NFL Rookie of the Year award that season, and become the Oilers-Titans’ starting tailback through 2003, never missing a start. He would see his four consecutive Pro Bowl appearances, and how he assisted the Titans to a championship playoff in Super Bowl XXXIV. He would see himself become only the second NFL running back to rush for 10,000 yards while never missing a start, alongside the late, great Jim Brown. He would see himself inducted in the College Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2013, having his Titans jersey retired by the Titans during a halftime ceremony against the Indianapolis Colts along with that of his late teammate, Steve McNair, receiving his MBA in Business from Northwestern, starting a successful wealth management business, opening his own restaurants, married to Tamara “Taj” George of the girl group SWV and Survivor fame, and as the father to two sons, Eriq and Jaire.

He speaks to this reflection now, saying, “I thought my life was over at the time I went to Fork Union, only to see it blossom and grow. I overcame a bad game at Ohio State as a freshman, a game so bad that it would have ended the career of most people; I had two fumbles against Illinois, and I was in the doghouse for two years. I just stuck it out, dug deep, and found a way to become a Heisman Trophy winner, only to get drafted by the Oilers and go through years of not being considered an NFL team; we had no identity and didn’t have any fans. To land in Nashville, to go on a Super Bowl run, and still be regarded as one of the great players to play in this organization, to transition to my life now — getting my Master’s in business — when all the odds seemed to be against me, when it seemed like every door was closed… to have the ability to see it through, to trust God, trust the plan, trust the spirit, was really defining for me.

Photo Credit: Jessica Steddom

Photo Credit: Jessica Steddom

“Life,” he continues, “doesn’t always make sense. I put my all into things, and it seemed like I couldn’t advance. I’d go to a certain point and then stop — but then I’d transition into something else. I see other people thriving in their careers, jobs they’ve done for 15, 20 years, doing TV, owning businesses… and I’ve also done those things. Those were my aspirations. But there’s a different plan for me, and just trusting in that has prepared me for this moment now.”

What George is saying is that nothing is set in stone, that as much as he loves where he’s at in life, he’s used to things changing on a dime — and he’s ready for whatever will come.

“I could say right now that I’d love to do this for the rest of my life, but who knows? I enjoy coaching, and it’s challenging, especially here at TSU. It really has its challenges, from a lack of resources to instability within the overall program; it’s really exercising my faith. [That being said] I would love to win the National Championship, have my players get their degrees, become great men, great businessmen, and maybe do some great things together. But you never know.”

Right now, he’s taking things day by day — which is how he has to operate when changes occur every five years, setting small goals that are predominantly team-focused. “I’d like to win the championship this year, to have our team GPA average up to a 3.25, to lead the country in offensive rushing. I’m getting into more specific goals in terms of the team, but ultimately, I want to have a unit that’s nine-strong, and that’s defined by doing all the right things: going to class on time, not missing classes, being model students, treating people with respect.”

And for himself? “From a personal standpoint, I don’t necessarily care about being coach of the year. That’s not my goal. I want to feel fulfillment. Success, for me, is that fulfillment that I’m doing God’s work and that I’m doing my best every single day. That I’m growing, developing, that I’m advancing in this thing called life, that whatever it is I’m doing prepares me for the next opportunity, whatever that is. That’s the trick to it all.”

The one thing he is actively working on is a book that’s he co-authoring, a playbook, if you will, that marries the terminology of football with the world of finance, a how-to guide for sports junkies to make the world of finance more digestible. But beyond that, he’s simply waiting for the next big thing to come his way. “I’m always keeping an eye out, but I’m also keeping my feet where they are and being present where I am, not cheating this moment,” he shares. “Of course, I would love to go to the next level in my coaching career, whatever that looks like — be it a power five or another position, someplace else as head coach. I wouldn’t close the door on an opportunity to go back to professional ranks. It just depends on the right situation, the right opportunity, and where I am at that particular time in my life.”

Before we sign off, I ask him my go-to: what, to him, is the greatest luxury in life? And he turns the tables. “Define luxury,” he commands. And when I give him my highly subjective answer, he responds in kind.

“Luxury, to me, is peace of mind — knowing that I’ve done all I could do. That I’ve been the best person possible in my relationships. A great husband, father, friend, coach, actor. I’m able to sleep well, knowing that I did my absolute best, didn’t cheat on or cheat anybody, didn’t try to screw anyone over; nothing egregious. Having the peace of mind that I did my absolute best is fulfilling. There have been nights where I didn’t have that peace, nights where I’ve tossed and turned despite having money, at a fancy hotel, sleeping next to a few women whom [I wasn’t in love with]. That wasn’t fulfilling, that wasn’t peaceful. Inner peace is something that you have to constantly pursue and stay committed to. You have to have faith that you’re able to attain that.”

And when you do, as Eddie George does? That, I suppose, is the ultimate win in the game of life.

Photo Credit: Jessica Steddom