Eddie George Plans To Challenge Power 5 Schools

“Five-star (prospects), four-stars, three-stars and in between,” he said.

Eddie George is determined to wrestle FBS schools for those players. His staff set the tone last month at TSU’s Roar City Mega Camp, pushing scholarship offers to three- or four-star recruits who were already considering the likes of Michigan, Oklahoma, Miami and Florida State among others.

George, a Heisman winner at Ohio State and four-time Pro Bowler in the NFL, is confident he can get players to the NFL even without that exposure.

The assistants he enlisted — Hue Jackson, Clyde Simmons, Jeff Fisher, Joe Bowden and Mark Hutson — have 35 years of NFL coaching experience between them.

George’s message to elite recruits: “You’re going to be developed and you’re going to be developed right (here). So if (the NFL) is what you want, and (TSU is) the right fit and right opportunity, and it resonates with your spirit to become a Tiger, then let’s do it. If not, we’re going to get there with or without them. But I think we’ll get there quicker with them.”

He wants recruits to know TSU is eyeing facility upgrades and hopes to bring football pageantry back to Hale Stadium.

The bottom line, however, is always the NFL.

“Listen, any kid that comes in my program, I’m going to say they have an opportunity to play at the next level, because they all do,” George said. “We know the statistics that only 1% can go and play in the NFL and the rest of you should think of getting jobs; well, if I come to them with that idea, what am I doing? I’m not helping them pursue their dreams.”

Tigers running back Devon Starling came out of Cane Ridge as a three-star prospect and the 2018 Class 6A Mr. Football winner before spending a redshirt freshman year at Memphis. With a crowded depth chart ahead of him, he transferred to TSU after one season.

Now he goes into his second year with the Tigers as the returning Ohio Valley Conference rushing leader and has become a face for the TSU program. He was the team representative at OVC Media Day.

“I know how it feels to play (FBS football),” Starling said. “I’d let (recruits) know that and let them know my experience there and here. I feel like Tennessee State has a lot of opportunities being an HBCU with everything going on in the world. And who wouldn’t want to play with coach George or Hue Jackson?”