Former Ohio State Heisman Trophy-winning running back Eddie George was hired on Sunday as Bowling Green’s next head football coach, the program announced on its social media and team website. George’s contract is reportedly a five-year deal, according to ESPN.
“I am truly excited to be the head coach at Bowling Green State University,” George said in a statement. “Bowling Green is a wonderful community that has embraced the school and the athletics department. We are eager to immerse ourselves in the community and help build this program to the greatness it deserves.
“I am overwhelmed with excitement and joy for the possibilities this opportunity holds. I’m also thrilled to be back in the great state of Ohio, where I played my college football. I look forward to meeting the team, the coaches, everyone in the athletics department and everyone in the BGSU and Bowling Green community.”
George earns the job at Bowling Green after a four-year stint as head coach at FCS Tennessee State, where he went a combined 24-22 and 13-12 in the Ohio Valley Conference. He led the Tigers to a successful 2024 season in which it went 9-4 and secured a share of the OVC-Big South title, the school’s first league title in football since 1999.
Tennessee State also made the FCS playoffs under George’s leadership this season, falling to Montana 41-27 in the first round.
George, who won the Heisman Trophy with the Buckeyes in 1995 and rushed for 3,768 yards for the Scarlet and Gray from 1992-95, will now return to Ohio to lead a Bowling Green program that is coming off consecutive 7-6 seasons under Scot Loeffler, who left the program on Feb. 28 to become quarterbacks coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.
