Eddie George Monday Press Conference Transcript (EMU)

Eddie George Press Conference 
Nov. 1, 2025
Bowling Green, Ohio 

Eddie George Opening Statement
Just before I get into last week's game or look forward to our opponent this week in Eastern Michigan, I just wanted to inform that there has been a change in our staff. Coach Travis Partridge is no longer our offensive coordinator.

He has been relieved of his duties. I wish him well in his next endeavors. He's helped me tremendously throughout my coaching career, helping me with Tennessee State last year. Just a difference in philosophy moving forward and where we're going as a team, and that's kind of where we are with it.

We’re excited to compete this week again. I'm going to put the best product on the field, continue to work through the process, work through some key injuries, and give our kids a game plan that they can sink their teeth in and be excited about, and go out and compete on Saturday.

Question: What led to this coaching change?
Coach George: I would say it's unfortunate that we had the situation at quarterback. We’ve played four different quarterbacks, which is tough. I think you're seeing a lot of that throughout college football. Without stability at that position, it’s tough to win ball games. To be consistent, to really build on anything offensively.

There were some things philosophically speaking. I think Coach Partridge is a phenomenal coach, but it just didn’t align with where we're trying to build, where I want this team to be.
I think the feeling is really kind of mutual on that. I mean again, he has a bright future and I wish him well.

Question: How crazy have the highs and lows of this month been?
Coach George: That’s football. That's part of it. You go through the highs and lows of the season.

You can be exposed a lot. It strengthens you. It’ll determine where you're going to go as a program and who you want to be. You can look at the records; you can look at where we are as a team in terms of wins and losses and certainly with our statistics.

But it's there to make you stronger. Before you learn how to win, you learn how to lose. I think we’re finding that out.

It's how do we respond to adversity. I think when you look at the film, our guys are still playing hard; they're still fighting and still care about winning. No one's throwing in the towel and we have to tweak a few things. To give ourselves the best chance to win on Saturday.

I'm not going to use that as an excuse, or say, hey, we're going to wait till next year. There's still a lot to play for. Guys are still putting up some good stats. We can still put together a good season. We can still grow. We can still get better.

I want to make sure our seniors leave on a winning note, on a positive note and build momentum for the future. So that's exciting to me and I have to get over, and we have to get over the emotional attachment to the results that that we've had. The last few weeks were very tough, but we've got to find the way, and we're going to do just that.

Question: Can you go into the mechanics of what this change means? What’s happening with playcalling?
Coach George: Yes, Coach Greg Nosal will be the play caller, OC. He's our offensive line coach. He was already co-offensive coordinator.

There will be some collaborative efforts turning to the quarterback room. Coach Brian White will help assist with that as well as Coach Dwayne Alexander. It's going to be a collaborative effort as far as our game planning is concerned, it's all hands-on deck.

There are some really great coaches on that side of the ball with years of experience that can navigate us through this period. Clearly there are things that are going to be simplified. Easier to digest. The goal is to allow our kids to go fast and keep it simple. We're developing a plan just to do just that.

Question: What can we expect to see Saturday?
Coach George: Expect to see an offense that’s efficient and can do things well. Don’t know the status of Drew as of right now. Of course, we tried to go last week and he's just not healthy right now. So, we're going to take that day by day, even week by week. Whoever is under center, we’re going to put a game plan around him so that he can be successful.
The goal is to put points in the board and to put drives together. Let's try to get that first first down and we'll go from there.

Question: What did you see out of the game last Saturday?
Coach George: Well, offensively we all saw the struggles. Nothing changed from that perspective. Drew wasn't healthy, couldn't really protect himself and we saw an offensive struggle.

Wasn't able to put points up, had opportunities. I tried to give the team some type of momentum by going for it on 4th down. Maybe wasn't the smartest decision. That's probably a bonehead decision on my behalf. Maybe I should have punted it and allowed our defense to get out there and try to get a stop, just to generate some type of energy, some type of hope for the offense. So, defensively, we gave up the first quick drive. They scored an explosive in the run game, a big pass play and that was pretty much it for our defense. I think they settled down really well after that.

They were able to get a beat on what they were doing. I believe they went got eight three-and-outs after that point in time. What hurt us was the fumble before halftime, our first fumble from the running back room this year. It came at a costly time, so that's 21 points.

Then coming out of half, I think three-and-out and a punt return for a touchdown and that is pretty much it.
So, this time of year reveals a lot. Teams try to catch momentum. They start to be better week by week and there are teams trying to still survive and find out what they do well and we’re one of those teams right now. We're reeling for some confidence, we're reeling for some victories and we're just really reeling for some success.

In order to get to what we want to be and who we want to be, we have to get through this and we have to do it together. We have to be positive with it. We have to rally the troops and understand that, hey, we still have a good football team. We just got to get some healthy bodies out there and go compete.

Question: Eastern is struggling and coming off a bye. What are the challenges with that?
Coach George: Well, they had two weeks to prepare. They’re rested at the right time. It’s a good time of year for a bye week; we’ve had plenty of ball. Probably wouldn’t have too much in terms of practice to heal up. Can really formulate a game plan that finds the best advantages.

Again, it doesn’t matter for us. Coming off a bye week or not, we got to go out there and play. I’m pretty sure they’re prepared and we try to get a victory.

Question: What was your interaction like with Harold Fannin on Saturday?
Coach George: Harold came to see us. Actually, when we played Kent State he came by the hotel. I told him I’m a big fan of him. I’d met him before. We shared dinner together; I told him about my time in the NFL. Gave him some advice and shared what he’s experiencing now playing in the league. Mentioned to him, why don’t you get a signed jersey from me? Going to put it up in my man cave.

He was gracious enough to give me a jersey, so I said I’ll give you one of mine. I said which one? White? Scarlet? Ohio State? Titans? It didn’t matter. So, we exchanged jerseys. He’s just a great resource, a great young man. Harold Fannin Jr. is an awesome dude.

Question: Is there excitement in seeing how this team responds to see what you guys are made of?
Coach George: Absolutely. That’s the beauty of it. As bad as it feels, that’s the obstacle we have to go through. This is something that I have to do. It’s part of my growth, my development. I welcome the challenge; our coaches welcome that challenge. Our team, I tell them handle hard better. That’s what we have to do. It’s going to make us better because of it.

I’ve been in these situations before as a player. Been in these situations before as a coach. My first couple at Tennessee State. When I first got to Tennessee State it wasn't at the hiring cycle of coaching, it was done in the spring. So, same situation I had to put a product together and make the best of the situation.
We want to bring the right people into the building. We want to get it right. We find kids with character. We're going to discipline that character. We're going to mold that character into what we need it to be to become a Falcon, and as a byproduct of that, a championship team.
So, you have to embrace it. As bad as it feels, and you want to run from it, you hope you let it go and get through it. You got to learn and grow and grind through it.
This is the vicissitudes of a season and of life, and you have to embrace that.

Question: What do you think you’ve learned most this year? Or can apply going forward?
Coach George: Culture is everything. Yes, we've got to get talented players in here. We've got to develop players. But the culture is something that's a living, breathing organism that you have to pay attention to, pamper, develop, tweak every single day, every single moment. The moment that I give into that and allow complacency to creep in and people to be comfortable, for me to be comfortable like, oh, that's okay, we'll get it and figure it out next week. There is no next week. That's the opportunity, a teachable moment to address right now. The opportunities now are, man, how do you handle adversity? I can get up in front of the team, in front of everybody and say, hey, you know what? I was hired in in March, and I don't have my guys. No, those are my guys. Those are my kids, regardless of if I recruited them or not. It's my job to prepare them, to coach them, to develop them, to give them the right mindset, to give them the tools to go out on that football field and to win games.
I've learned that at times I failed at that issue. And that's okay. I'm learning, I'm growing, and that's a part of my growth and development. But I'm going to get it right. One thing about me, I'm going to find a way. It may not be on everybody's timetable. But it's going to be at the right time, and I am committed to that. I'm grateful and thankful for the coaches I have in this building. I'm grateful and thankful for the coaches that have left and departed because they've taught me something about myself, this team and what we can do.

So, these are teachable moments for these young men to carry with them for the rest of their lives. Every year a team's going to have a certain record, and my goal was to have a championship team and hoist up the trophy. But hey, we're not there yet. But it's these moments. It's this time that doggedness is really formed and shaped and you're finding out who you are as a man. You're having to dig deeper than you've ever had before.

You have to really rely on your faith and have the guts to be willing to move forward in a positive way, regardless of how you feel. This can be applied to any situation in life. So that's what I would say I’ve learned.

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