Hiring Eddie George paid immediate dividends on the field this fall for Tennessee State. The rookie coach led TSU to its best record (5-7) in over half a decade.
Now TSU is looking to build on that success by improving the program’s infrastructure in all areas.
“It’s just reestablishing our football brand that was so dominant for many decades and just restoring that,” Tennessee State athletic director Mikki Allen told the Associated Press of George. “He’s been everything that I could ask for in a head coach.”
The program is putting the finishing touches on a brand new, state-of-the-art weight room set to open later this month. It is located inside an indoor facility with direct access to its turf field field for training. That project was made possible through a partnership with Western Express Trucking, based in Nashville. The company has also pitched in on basketball locker rooms in the past.
“There’s a lot of brands who want to be connected, obviously, to our head coach,” Allen said. “But then I think a lot of that star power that he has transferred over to our student-athletes in the sport of football.”
That’s not just a spin job – it’s a fact. TSU running back Devon Starling signed a $10,000 NIL before the season began.
To be sure there is still work to be done. Attendance is something that Eddie George addressed during the season as TSU averaged 4,022 for four home games in the fall, less than half of what it averaged in 2019.
Still, things are looking up at TSU. George recently hired Kyle Hoffman as director of recruiting as the February signing day gets closer. George likes what he sees so far.
“I don’t know if you watched ‘Game of Thrones,’ but winter is coming,” George said. “Winter is coming, and it’s time to get busy.”