Eddie George Monday Press Conference Transcript (Akron)

Eddie George Press Conference 
Nov. 13, 2025
Bowling Green, Ohio 

Eddie George Opening Statement:
I’m extremely excited about this week. First MACtion game for me and this staff. Some of the guys left over have been through it as well.

Really exciting ball. Very much aware of it through the years of me covering the game, watching the game as a parent and so forth as a fan. Just excited to be to be a part of it. Gives our kids a national stage to perform to see where we are.

Really excited and going against a very good opponent who's playing some really good football now. Unfortunately, Akron lost last week to Kent State in exciting ball game. It certainly presents a lot of challenges for us on the defensive side of the football with the three headed monster. the quarterback, Jordan Gant, the running back and the receiver and the head coach is a brilliant play caller. So, we're going to have a great challenge there defensively. They're very opportunistic. This team you know was a couple of wins from being bowl eligible and they're well coached, resilient, tough and we’re excited to compete against them.

Question: What’s happening with the quarterback situation?
Coach George: It's the same right now. We have some stability. I think for a few weeks and for a month there's been a different starting quarterback for us.
Hunter looks like he'll be going for us again. Drew still rehabbing the ankle. It's more severe than we initially thought and it's really kept him out of everything. So, we might see him in emergency situations. Of course, Lucian is back, so he's going to get some playing time as well.

We're just going to go as it goes. Just get these guys the reps and put a game plan together to try to get a victory.

Question: What’s your take on MACtion games?
Coach George: It’s always odd to see a football game on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, that really gives fire to the madness that ensues on those nights. Really entertaining games where anything can happen. I mean, you look at this past game, Akron was down 18 points and stormed their way back to tie it up and to go into overtime. But you can expect the unexpected when watching MACtion games here. Always fun and exciting.

Awesome coaching in this conference and you'll have a chance to really see some talented teams on a night that you wouldn't expect to see football on. It's something I look forward to. Certainly, in the last few years since I got into coaching, we're usually game planning at night and we have the game on in the back. We try to get ideas as well from different plays that certain coaches or staffs are doing. So, it's exciting to be a part of this. It really is an exciting time.

Question: What is your point of reference for preparing for a MACtion game?
Coach George: Today’s a Monday, get lost in it. As a player we played on Monday and Thursday nights in the NFL, so it’s not foreign to me. I know to shift some things schedule wise, so you have to get adjusted to the week and the weekday. It's an opportunity for us to have a couple days to rest, reset and to get ahead of our opponent. Home in on some things practice wise to change a few things up. So, it's been very beneficial for us this week. But as a player you look forward to these games. I mean we had a game on a on a Sunday, and we had to play on a Thursday. It's short weeks and we have to be mindful on how we prepare. Sometimes those are the best weeks because you don't have time to think, you have to go and react. It's been good. So, I look forward to seeing how our guys respond this week.

Question: Looking at the record, as a coach, you haven’t been in this position since 2022. What can you draw from this experience?
Coach George: Well, this is where we are. We're in a season of establishment and refinement.

It’s a season of growth. These are the growing pains you’ll have when taking on a new venture. Coming in, you look at it, the roster, more than 25 players or 26 players with first time experience. That's the most in FBS football, so that's a young team, an inexperienced team. So, with that, you will have growing pains. As long as we're growing through it and learning through it and not getting emotional about the results or our record, we'll be fine.

Yes, we’re competitors. Yes, we want to win. But we have to understand and take ownership that we're not there yet. There are some things that had to be refined in our staff, had to be refined in our in our mindset, it has to be pointed out, and guys have to take ownership of the results and where we are, and take a hard look at the cold hard facts that, hey, there's some things that we miss details on. That's not just including the kids, that's the staff. We're not coaching the details or not preaching the culture. if we see something we know that's not right and allow it to happen, that's a missed opportunity. So, every day is game day when you walk in this building because it's really redefining and establishing the culture, establishing the identity, and then the results will take care of itself.

So, you know, I don't look at this year as a failure or I didn't meet the expectations in the win-loss column, but this is a great opportunity to re-establish who we are, how we're doing things, the culture, where we're going, and to respond to that, that this is all a part of it. I was reading up on something on Curt Cignetti. I think he's the only coach that's never in college had a losing season in his entire career.

That's amazing, but those losing seasons teach you something about where you have to go. Now it's up to you to respond to that. So that's great information for me moving forward on how we're going to change, how we're going to keep things the same, to assess talent both in the roster, within the staff and supporting staff, what's needed from a resource perspective. It’s given me great insight into how you play in this league, which is relatively new. So, we're learning each team, each venue, each coach. You see one thing on tape, but it's something different when you get out there in real time.

So, it's been a wonderful year in terms of gathering information and knowing what's next. I know what we can do. I've seen what we can do. I've seen the potential in this team, and it's given me an opportunity to find out on our roster who could play ball, who our playmakers are and how we can build around that. So, it's been a very successful year in that regard.

Question: What have you learned about your team since last week against Eastern Michigan?
Coach George: Last week, well, we made a change in our staff, so we had to simplify a lot. So, we were able to find out who our playmakers are. I think we were starting to find out our nucleus of players who we can really build around and that's fine, it’s taken a spring, a summer, certainly nine or eight games into the season to figure that out, but that's what it takes. So, I think that's been good. The key is to continue to play hard. Regardless of the circumstances, you're always playing for something.

A tangible trophy is out of the question for us this year, but the identity and the commitment to work and the culture still ongoing. So, we have to learn how to lose first, in terms of learning, before we can learn how to win. That's where we are right now. We have to press through that and break through that. When that day is going to come, I don't know. It could be this Tuesday night where we're praying for that, we're praying for a positive outcome. But I'm seeing us respond in practice. I'm seeing us respond in our coaching staff, I’m seeing us respond on a day-to-day basis, who would be dogged about this and go to work and keep showing up and not give in?

Because the easy thing to do around this time of year is that you're not playing for anything. You're playing on a Tuesday night in front of a small crowd. It's going to be cold and hey, the easy thing to do is just to lay down and we'll have to reset for next year. Well, no, next year starts now. That mindset starts now. For the guys that are leaving out of here, you want to leave on a strong note. You want to take something and extract something from this tough time, this tough period, this tough phase, that's going to apply for the next phase of your life. Whether it's jumping into the workforce world or jumping into becoming a being a married man or whatever the next profession is for you, you can take something from it.
So, it behooves everyone in this situation to take it seriously and know that you're playing for something greater than just a football game and it's going to pay off. It has to pay off. That's what I firmly believe. I've been down this path before, as a player, as a coach, and now it's the second time and you just have to take it on the chin, learn from it, grow from it and finish off strong.

Question: How have you seen Drew Pyne and other veterans help out Hunter Najm?
Coach George: Yeah, well, Drew has been phenomenal.

He's been in every single meeting room, giving his insight, his support of his experience of what he's been through to Hunter and his confidence. Baron has been phenomenal. He's going to make a great coach one day. He knows ball. He's been around it. He can see it. He can explain the concepts in a way that’s digestible, easy to listen to, very knowledgeable about the passing game and how it marries with our run game and so forth.

You talk about a blessing in disguise. You hate to lose a kid to an injury for the year, possibly his career. Then he jumps right in right after his surgery, the same day as the surgery comes back and he's helping us out last week with the game planning and that's remarkable. It speaks to the character of who he is, and Baron
's been incredible. So having those two vets in there to help Hunter, who is wise beyond his years, has been remarkable and I'm looking forward to seeing his growth from week one, his first start ever, to week two. Curious to see how he does.

Question: Any comment on the arrests last week?
It's been handled at the University level, and they're going to be back with the team. They’ve learned a valuable lesson.

Question: What’s the overall message to the team since bowl eligibility is out of reach?
Keep getting better. This is the phase of growing pains, and from the outside looking in, you could be like there’s nothing to play for, but we actually do. For the guys that are coming back, you have the opportunity to jump into the off-season with momentum. It's not about the win-loss record or playing in a bowl game. You know what? We didn't earn the right to play in the bowl game, or we didn't earn the right to play for a championship. That's okay.

I'm not trying to backdoor my way into anything. If we're not good enough to play in the bowl game, let's focus on getting to a bowl game. Winning the bowl game. Winning the championship. So, we have to focus on that.

I think once you get through the emotional side of that, you don't attach yourself to the results of anything, but more or less the process of maturing and the process of becoming, which will be accepted a lot better.

I didn't see anybody upset or anything of that nature. Yes, they're disappointed, but they're working through that point. But we're understanding that there is work to be done still. We're taking ownership of the things that we can't control. That's the discipline and the details of what we do, how we operate, how we approach every day. This is a test of our faith, a test of our culture. You make it through this, you make it through the other side of this, you will be that much stronger moving forward because when the wins start coming, when the results start to bounce our way, they'll look back on this like, yeah, we needed to go through that, to grow through that and we appreciate winning on a whole other level.

So now when somebody comes in this door that wants to be a part of this, they're going to hold them now accountable to everything that we talk about doing down to the details. Having a locker room clean, being on time, showing up to everything that we do, being responsible, being great in the community, being great stewards of the community, all those things matter because that's what goes into being a Falcon.

So, we've understood that. We're seeing it in real time, and this is a phase we have to go through to get to where we need to be and who we need to be.

Question: How did Levi Gazarek get on staff and what has he meant to you?
Coach George: Well, Levi, Baron, Drew, Scotty, Daniel, all those guys that work on our staff, they work their butts off. They really make this thing go. We don't have the resources and staff of other schools, but the work that they put in, man, it's been phenomenal.

Having Levi just a year removed, he's wise beyond his years. He understands the conference. He knows what it takes to be a Falcon here at Bowling Green State University, he respects and understands the history. It’s very near and dear to his heart. Levi was a captain. He's a great leader, has a strong understanding of the game, played at a very high level and he could speak to the players in a way that most of us coaches can't.

He has that respect in the locker room and on our staff. When I made a position change within the coordinated positions this past week, he stepped up in the quarterback room and is running the meeting. He’s talking about the details and nuances of each play, and he's taken very seriously. It’s been remarkable to have him on our staff.

You talk about promoting within, and I'm having an opportunity and am seeing these guys work. They embrace it and they don't complain. They're the first one in, last one to leave. I try to get here as early as I can, about 5:30 in the morning. They're beating me here.

They’re staying late, making sure things are done. I have to speak not just to Levi, but also Scotty. Once Fish was out with his shirt to shoulder deal in Nashville a couple weeks ago, Scotty made sure he had everything done.

Note cards, calls, signals, everything. It was flawless. There were no hiccups in the operation. So, we've been blessed to have these young men in our building. Scot Loeffler did a phenomenal job of not just recruiting the talent on the field, but most definitely off the field because these guys know ball and they're very passionate about being a Falcon.

Question: Jordan Gant connection with Coach George and Tennessee State.
Coach George: Actually, I'm proud of him because he's the leading rusher in the conference. I'm upset I didn't get the most out of him at Tennessee State, but from his growth and what he's become, watching him from afar, I'm so proud of him. He walked on at Tennessee State University, worked his tail off for two or three years. Had to work from scout team just to get on the field. Didn't maximize him like we should have at Tennessee State. Then leaves this past year to watch him grow. It's been phenomenal.

Now I have to try to stop him is another thing too, so it's going to be bittersweet to go against him, but I have to say I'm really proud of Jordan, all he's accomplished and everything that he's done.

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