Bears complete beneficial Eddie George interview

Both the Bears and Eddie George gain from the interview they conducted with the Heisman winner and the search can now enter a new stage.

Eddie George, when he accepted the Tennessee State coaching job. / George Walker IV / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Bears finished interviewing Eddie George on Sunday in a situation that appears beneficial for both parties, though not necessarily at putting the former Titans running back in the role of Chicago head coach.

It is true the Bears qualify now to hire a coach because they have fulfilled Rooney Rule requirements by interviewing two minority candidates for head coach in person, Ron Rivera and George. They did interview Thomas Brown, but he doesn't count for this rule as a candidate who is already in-house.

George couldn't be viewed as a serious candidate based on his total inexperience. He has been a head coach at HBCU school Tennessee State for just four years.

Although he was the conference coach of the year and runner-up for the Eddie Robinson FCS Coach of the Year award, his team's 9-4 record left him 24-22 for his four seasons. He had no previous coaching experience when hired.

What this does for George, who was a Bears assistant on the Bill Walsh Fellowship program in 2023 during the offseason, is put his name out there more for Pro Football Hall of Fame electors to see.

Eddie George (51 years old) is 24-22 as Tennessee State's head coach, but is coming off a 9-4 season. Last season, as a member of the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship, George spent a week helping to coach the #Bears during training camp. pic.twitter.com/82FEjRCTKB

— Barroom Net | Aldo Gandia (@BarroomNetwork) January 19, 2025

George has been a semifinalist before, the last time in voting for last year's class. But he hasn't been a finalist and for the 2025 class he wasn't a semifinalist.

George has career stat totals a bit lower than 2024 inductee Edgerrin James but his yards per season rushing are similar. He played nine years, two less than James.

Regardless, this could all be a boost for George's coaching career overall.

The Heisman winner from Ohio State was hired with no experience by Tennessee State after he had started a landscape architectural firm and a wealth management business. He did teach some classes at Ohio State's business school and was also acting on Broadway and in TV shows and movies.

"I was gonna be the first person to win a HEGOT," George told Dan Hope for the Ohio State/Eleven Warriors website. "That's an Emmy, Tony, Oscar, Grammy, and I wanted to be the first one to win a Heisman, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony,” George said.

The interesting part of George's hiring was his reluctance to take the offer at first because he didn't have the experience and then he talked about it with some people. One was Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, who the Bears were reported to have had interest in has he been made available in a trade. Then he became convinced he could do it.

With the Rooney requirement now met, things could develop quickly for the Bears from the stage of preliminary interviews to either finalists or right to a hire, depending on he candidate.

Considering the pomp and circumstance accorded former Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy, it's safe to think he'd be of extreme interest.

Ben Johnson remains the most popular name, though his status seems in question because of the challenge by the Raiders for his services.

There is also the unclear status involving Kliff Kingsbury. The Bears wanted to interview the Commanders offensive coordinator but would they wait until Washington's season ends?

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