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Eddie George’s prolific post-playing profession makes cease at Bears OTAs by means of range teaching fellowship | Soccer

CHICAGO — Eddie George had no plans to coach football.

The long hours have put off the former Tennessee Titans All-Pro running back. He loved having time for his golf game. He built his wealth management business and acted in films, television and plays, including playing the role of Billy Flynn in Chicago on Broadway.

“I’m trying to win a HEGOT,” said George. “It’s Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony, but Heisman is front and center.”

The 1995 Heisman Trophy winner at Ohio State University laughed after speaking like a pro from his seat in a conference room at Halas Hall.

George was taking a breather during a hectic three-week stint with the Chicago Bears as part of the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship, a program designed to give minority coaches NFL-level experience. Randy Shannon, Florida State co-defensive coordinator and linebacker coach, former Miami head coach, is also present at the team activities organized by the Bears.

Nine days into his tenure, George was all over the Bears compound, not only attending football meetings and drills, but also consulting with support staff and even seeking the thoughts of Kevin Warren, the President and CEO of the Bears. George’s goal is to gather strategies from across the organization to bring back to Tennessee State, where he is entering his third year as head coach.

“Every day I try to find one thing, just one thing, to take home because it’s a lot,” George told the Tribune. “Three weeks isn’t enough time to really take it all in, so I’m trying to give myself the grace to say, ‘Okay, enjoy the experience and just try to learn something new every day and also be a resource for that to be youth.’ Men who are here and have questions.’ ”

When Bears running backs coach David Walker urged George to apply, noting that the Bears wanted to do something specifically for the head coaches, George didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to learn.

A little over two years ago, Tennessee State offered George a chance to become a head coach. In the NFL, George rushed for 10,441 yards for nine seasons, started 130 straight games and reached four Pro Bowls. But he had no coaching experience.

Intrigued by being the CEO of a football program, George wondered if he would regret turning down Tennessee State’s offer. He knew he would. And he believed in the experiences that brought him to this point. He was familiar with football from his playing career, leadership skills from fathering two sons, listening as an actor, and planning from his business ventures.

“So all of that prepared me for this moment,” he said.

George’s Tennessee State teams have won 9-13 in their first two seasons. His third season begins with a trip to Notre Dame, the first time the Irish have faced an HBCU team, and a game that reportedly comes with a $1 million payday for Tennessee State.

As George prepares for his third year, the OTAs provided a good time to join the Bears. The Tennessee State players will not be at the facility until the start of summer school and conditioning in early June. He still holds staff meetings between Bears training sessions and meetings at 1:30 p.m. each day.

George said he starts his day at 5:30 a.m. with a workout before meeting up with various people at Halas Hall. He attends special teams meetings because he believes in a great special teams game.

Of course, he’s drawn to the offensive encounters centered around the Bears’ running game, which he says set a franchise-record 3,014 rushing yards in 2022 under new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. George takes note of what they teach, emphasize and name.

As George made the transition from actor-businessman to coach, his biggest learning curve was dealing with people – understanding who he wanted and didn’t want in his program, trying to get them involved, and articulating his vision properly, to inspire them.

Fellowship with the Bears gives him the opportunity to meet various leaders, including coach Matt Eberflus.

“Very cool and calm,” George said of Eberflus. “I love his approach. I love that he’s a no-nonsense guy. He knows what he wants. I’ve never heard him swear at anyone. He talks to you like a man. And his staff was great too.”

Eberflus said George consults with staff responsible for nutrition, strength and conditioning, and game management, among other things.

And George meets with Warren to discuss how he plans to build an organization that can sustain a championship culture over the long term. George is fascinated with how to get everything right in a program.

“How you pay attention to details because players can feel it and feel it,” George said. “If you cut corners on any aspect of this building, they will see that and cut corners. So I look at everything and I want to know everything, down to how they fold the towels and get your laundry back to you on time.

“All the things that you don’t necessarily think are important are really important. Everyone is watching. And how do you hold people accountable for that?”

The scholarship is named after former San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh, who started an internship program for minority coaches at his training camp in 1987. The league eventually adopted the stipend for all teams. Mike Tomlin, Lovie Smith and Marvin Lewis are among the coaches who have survived.

The Bears have enrolled several former players in the program, including Nathan Vasher, Roosevelt Williams and Henry Burris. They will hire more coaches as part of the training camp program.

George and Shannon are particularly prominent additions to OTAs this year, and their presence also benefits the Bears.

“We definitely rely on these people because they have the information,” Eberflus said. “Really, our boys have received a lot of information from (George) and are constantly asking him questions. So it was pretty cool to have him with us.”

Eberflus let George speak in front of the players.

George spoke about the rare opportunities they have in the NFL and the things they can do to keep them going, including not getting too comfortable. He spoke about his four pillars: physical, mental, spiritual and social well-being. And he advised them to prepare for the post-football world, starting with the way they behave as players.

He began to understand the latter point in his final years as a gamer, when he founded a landscape architecture company before earning his MBA from Northwestern.

“Football isn’t the be-all and end-all. It’s a path to your goal,” said George. “You’re only here for a limited amount of time. It ends. You have more life behind you than in your football life.

“But the years you have as a footballer, especially in an organization like this, if you do well here – not just on the football field but in terms of character, integrity and who you are – can stick with you for a lifetime .” ”

©2023 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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