Bowling Green Reportedly Considering Former Ohio State Running Back Eddie George for Head Coaching Vacancy
An Ohio State legend could be returning to the Buckeye State as a FBS head coach.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Saturday that former Ohio State running back Eddie George has emerged as a top target for Bowling Green’s head coaching vacancy. A final decision is expected in the near future, per Thamel, who reported that George was one of three finalists interviewed Friday.
George, the 1995 Heisman Trophy winner, has been the head coach at Tennessee State since 2021. He’s gone 24-22 in four years as the Tigers’ head coach, having his most successful season so far this past year, leading TSU to a 9-4 record, a Big South co-championship and a berth in the FCS playoffs.
Bowling Green is looking for a new head coach to replace Scot Loeffler, who left Bowling Green last week to become the Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterbacks coach. According to Football Scoop, other candidates for the job include UMass offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian, Oklahoma State quarterbacks coach Kevin Johns and Minnesota co-defensive coordinator Nick Monroe.
Matt Patricia’s goal as he builds his first defense at Ohio State is simple: To put Ohio State’s players in positions that allow them to do what they do best.
Patricia’s defensive philosophy isn’t tied to a specific structure, and that could work to his advantage as he takes over as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator. Patricia’s approach dating back to when he won two Super Bowls as the New England Patriots’ defensive coordinator has been to fit his defense around his personnel, and he inherits plenty of talent to work with in Columbus.
Because Patricia’s defenses in New England were known for using a variety of packages and changing from week to week to match up with opponents, one of the biggest questions surrounding his hire has been how his defensive philosophy will translate to the college game, where he’ll be working with less experienced players. But while Patricia has two “bibles” full of play calls and concepts that he’s accumulated over three decades in coaching, he says his goal has always been to keep things simple for his players, allowing them to play fast and aggressively.
“I think the beauty of football, and definitely something I learned at New England, was take the extremely complex and let’s try to boil it down to maybe three to five things, really simple, so we can really detail that out as much as possible,” Patricia said Friday in his first interview session as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator. “Yes, we have lots of packages and all that stuff. But I always felt going into a game, my whole goal was like ‘I just want to make sure they can go play fast and play aggressive,’ so I don’t want to have too much where they can’t do that. I want them to be able to go play.
“They play – I’m not playing, they play the game. So let them get on the field, let them play fast, let them play aggressive, and I think that is a good balance of making sure you have enough to defend what you’re going to see, but also let the players go play free enough where they can be aggressive and have the tools on the field that they need.”
