The Triple Option - Heisman Winner & Bowling Green Head Coach Eddie George Joins, Plus 2025 Penn State Preview

Episode Date: March 12, 2025

Greatness recognizes greatness. Coach Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram II, and Rob Stone are joined by Heisman Trophy winner and new Bowling Green State University head coach Eddie George. George takes us inside the process that lead to him heading up the Falcons and how one former head coach at the school initiated the conversation (hint: his friends call him Coach Meyer). He also previews what he is bringing to western Ohio as well as how coaching has become his passion after vowing to never do it at this level. Just because it's Spring doesn't mean we can't look to the fall. The guys take a look at Penn State's schedule and returning firepower before debating if they will under up with over or under 10.5 wins, as set by BetMGM. New episodes of The Triple Option drop every Wednesday. Make sure you’re subscribed on YouTube and following on all podcast platforms. Also make sure you’re locked in on social @3XOptionShow on all platforms for highlight moments, bonus content, and to engage with the guys and the TO community. (https://tripleoptionshow.com) The Triple Option is presented by Wendy’s. "Go to Wendy's® and taste the difference in a hamburger. - https://m-wendys.app.link/hamburger25 A big thank you to the rest of our sponsors: BetMGM Use bonus code OPTION or go to https://betmgm.com/OPTION and get up to a $1500 First Bet Offer on your first wager with BetMGM! First Bet Offer for new customers only. Subject to eligibility requirements. Bonus bets are non-withdrawable. In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. See BetMGM.com for Terms. US promotional offers not available in New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (Available in the US) Call 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY) Call 1-800-327-5050 (MA) 21+ only. Please Gamble Responsibly. Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA),1-800-981-0023 (PR). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If Urban Meyer was a color, what color would he be and why? He'd be he'd be. And I'm waiting on this one. He'd be blue, man, because he a cool cat. Oh, is that acceptable, Urban? Burning red is what I think. I was going to say red. I gave you the tea up.

Hey, Mark, you know what we got on this week's show? My Heisman brother. Yeah, we got Deuce Heisman trophy winners on this week's edition of The Triple Option presented by Weddies. Go to Weddies and taste the difference in a hamburger. Rob Stone, Urban Meyer, and Mark Ingram here with you. Glad you found us this week. Remember, rate, subscribe over at Apple spot podcast, Spotify, wherever it is you get your podcasts as well as across social

media at three x option show you can find us on YouTube as well. We're going to delve into the Penn State schedule and find their 2025 win total in the regular season. It was quite an exercise. But we begin with a huge name making a major move just days ago. Huge, huge, like neck huge, leg huge, running back huge. 1995 Heisman Trophy winner, 2011 college football Hall of Fame inductee Eddie George joins us right now. He's a four-time pro bowler, jumped into the coaching ranks a few years ago at HBC side, Tennessee State, four years, you were there coach, it's hard. By the way, it's hard. It's really hard to call him coach. Like he's, he's Eddie. Like it's hard to say, coach George. I know.

Hey, stone, get used to it. 1996 rookie of the year. Tell us to it. 1996 rookie of the year. Tell us, tell them 1996 rookie of the year, 7,000 yard season, 10 K yard Russian club, Heisman. Oh wow. I'm here to do the coaching accolades. I'm going to do the coaching accolades. When you know I'm a running back, running back love.

I'm going to show them the running back love. If you feel me and that he's a member of the 10k club. That's right. Heisman. Get it right. All right. So we know about Eddie's a running back. Let's talk about Eddie as as a head coach, because that's why Coach George is joining us right now. Four seasons at HBC site

Tennessee State went 24 and 22 had that nine and three season last year coach got to the FCS playoffs as well. So that's impressive. Even more so when you consider what the Tigers program was before he arrived, averaging about three wins a year the prior four seasons. Sunday, he makes the big move from the HBC to the Mac, the new head coach of Bowling Green University. It took a while for us to finally get to it. Eddie George joins the triple option this week. Congratulations, Coach George.

Thank you guys. I appreciate it. I love, thank you, Mark. I love, love watching your podcast. It's always, always fun to be, I'm glad I made it in this capacity. Always wanted to be on, but I guess I had to get this job to get on.

Hey, Eddie, great to see you and the congrats. And, and, uh, we talked many, many times. That place is special to me. They, they took a chance on a 35 year old receiver coach out of Notre Dame. And I fell in love with community. Uh, it's as you go, that community goes. And I called you the day before you took that job and said, man, you just say this is not a normal job.

This is a town of 25,000 people that, you know, to get that stadium full, they have to have a reason to go. And I got news. You're that reason. And obviously your players when you get going, but write this down. Trotter steakhouse, Sam B's, take your wife there and blow it up. It's an incredible place. Carter Park, your kids are a little older, but that's where my

daughter and son played baseball. Incredible place. And never say the T word ever. What's that? I don't know what that is. That place 40 miles north of you. Where is it? urban? You go is that place 40 miles north of you. Where is it urban? I don't you go north until you smell it Westies Somewhere up there. Hey Congrats, man, and uh And here's a good thing. I'll let you go with this the place is in pretty good shape Scott Lefler

You have good facilities. I was up there two years ago I mean, I'm not going back to what it was like in 01. It wasn't like that. You got a pretty good situation, Coach George. The moment I touched down yesterday, you can feel the love, the excitement. And that's what got me excited. My family was excited.

I was excited. I was like, man, this is awesome. You know, they flew me and my family up and immediately greeted with love and respect and admiration, so excited. Just meeting the people around the town, around the program, the staff. I mean, it's just been first class and it's, I get it.

You know, they are very passionate fans. Like, Buckeye Nation's passionate, but this is a little different. It's, I get it. You know, they, they're very passionate fans. Like, Buckeye Nation's passionate. But this is a little different. It's very intimate. It's not overwhelming. It's very genuine. Not that, you know, Buckeyes are not. It's just, this is different, man.

And I see it. You know, I feel really good about it. Of course, you know, given the situation, there's some tough decisions that I have to make. Scott left it in great, great, great position. Staff is great. But you know, I'm going to put together the best staff in this situation. And I feel really positive about the future of Bowling Green Football. I'm really, really excited. future of Bowling Green football. I'm really, really excited. And I just want to man we at the we're at the Heisman ceremony, you know, spend some time together. We were talking and you started at Tennessee State. I asked you like, you know, how did you get into coaching man and you told me an amazing story. So I want you to share it on the podcast, man. You know how you kind of got started, how you got the

job at Tennessee State and how you made it to now being the head coach at Bowling Green. Well, you know, prior to me jumping into the profession, I was doing things on Broadway. I have a wealth management business that I run. And this was during COVID. And I managed money for the AK Foundation and the president for the AK Foundation was the former president for Tennessee State,K.A. Foundation was the former president for Tennessee State, Dr. Glenda Glover. And it was one day, I have a clear blue, she calls me and she says, Hey, I'm calling for, you know, to ask you a question, which is have an open mind.

So immediately I'm thinking, okay, she wants to ask me for money. All right, we're so type of times. And then she says, it's not for money. I said, okay. Probably wants me to help with the search to find in their coats. Cause I heard on the news that they were thinking about going in a different direction. Or I was thinking, hey, she wants to put more money

into the account that we managed for at the time. So I was like, yo, it's gotta be good news. You hit me with, yeah, I, I'm gonna ask you to be the next head coach for Tennessee State. I'm looking at the phone like, what? You do know I've, I've never coached, right? Like, right. What are we talking about? Right. Oh, I said, you know what, I'm flattered. But, you know, I'll pray on it. I'll think about it. Yeah. I hung up the phone. I said, listen, I'm not going to do that. My wife said, what's the matter? I said, listen,

about it. Yeah. I hung up the phone. I said, listen, I'm not gonna do that. My wife said, What's the matter? I said, Listen, Glenda Glover had the audacity to ask me to be head coach for a football team. Like, come on, I've never coached. And my wife said, Well, why not? You'll be a great head coach. Yeah, I started thinking like, well, what if I did do it? And how would I start a program? And ever since then, I started thinking about the impact I could possibly have on these young men and give back to the game that gave so much to me

and more to prepare them, not for just football games, but for life after the game, like you're doing now in media, like I'm doing coaching, like so many other guys finding their next passion through the platform of football. And it took off like wildfire kept me up at night. I'm like, Mark, I'm like, please, Eddie, don't jump into coaching. Stay focused on acting in business. That's it. Lo and behold, I took the job. And I fell in love with it. It was very hard. It was

tough. It stretched me, but the gratification that I get out of seeing the kids get it on the field and seeing it come to life and building a program was nothing like it. So first game mark was against right down the street in Canton against Grambling, Grambling Bramley State in August of 21. We had 19 penalties, 19 penalties, which was a record. All right, our final game against CMO this past season to win the championship, we had two. So there was a huge, there was a lot of work,

a lot of changes I had to do. I had to fire and hire coaches,, had to get rid of players. I had to go through some, uh, some hard, tough, tough, tough days, but it prepared me like no other for, for coaching. And I love it, man. I absolutely love it. Well, that's an amazing story, man. And it resonated with me and I wanted you to tell the podcast.

So I appreciate you sharing that, man. No problem, brother. No problem. How did this all come about, coach? Because this, this is a late, a late season hire, right? Rarely our head coaches hired in March. So give us. I want to hear this. Yeah. Give us a timeline on how you went from Tennessee state to Bowling Green. Oh, actually, it was funny. I go to Indianapolis and I'm at the combine and just making my rounds,

saying hello to people and watching the guys run and so forth. And I go back to my hotel room. I saw across the ticker that Scott left for the Eagles. And immediately I'm thinking to myself, wow, that is so messed up. Man, they got a, that's a tough situation that they're gonna be in.

I'm glad, I'm dealing with my stuff, but I'm glad I don't have to deal with that, right? So I get my car, driving back to Nashville, enjoying my ride, got on my actually I was listening to Above the Line by by somebody. His book. I'm joking, but I did read it was really good book. By the way, but I'm driving back No, I'm joking, but I did read it. It was a really good book. I picked some stuff out of it, by the way. But I'm driving back and I'm literally, swear to God, I said, God, show me a sign. What do I need to do for next year to prepare? Because right now it's, I'm in the last year of my deal. I'm not hearing much talk from Tennessee State, fairly because of their issues. And I'm wondering what's next who's talking to me. I'm talking to a guy who's talking to me. I'm talking to a guy who's talking to me.

I'm talking to a guy who's talking to me. I'm talking to a guy who's talking to me. I'm talking to a guy who's talking to me. I'm talking to a guy who's talking to me. I'm talking to a guy who's talking to me. I'm talking to a guy who's talking to me. I'm talking to a guy who's talking to me. I'm talking to a guy who's talking to me.

I'm talking to a guy who's talking to me. I'm talking to a guy who's talking to me. I'm talking to a guy who's talking text me. He's like, okay. He says, hey, would you be interested in the Bowling Green job? I said, I text him, I'm driving. Call me. He calls me and we're talking. I'm like, oh my God, this is crazy. He says, hey, you know, the AD called me.

He asked me to help him with the search and there's only one name that I gave him. That's you. I was like, Oh damn. Okay. All right. You get an endorsement from urban, urban Meyer. You have to take that call. You gotta explore it. And it was not given. Okay. It was other candidates. I think there was 20 other candidates. They looked at, I said, you know what, I'm going to go for it. I know about his history here at BG, the other coaches, I played against Boston Bowling Green when I was in college, I had my first touchdown against him, ironically, my freshman year. And it often went like wildfire. Then I got a phone call from I got a phone call from one of the search firms to do it.

So that whole week from that moment on to right now was a complete whirlwind of interviews. I went out to Arizona on a vacation. It was a world, I spent almost 10 grand just to go on this vacation before spring ball to only get a massage in Detroit to do an interview for this job. Okay. And lo and behold, it happened. And now I'm here in Bowling Green, delving in head first with the staff,

knowing the players, getting the true lay of the land that would need to be accomplished, get done and get this thing off from the right track. So it was an amazing whirlwind, man, of events that I'm sitting here right now. But it's all due to that guy, Urban Meyer, that I'm sitting in this seat right now because he gave me a vote of confidence that it was a good opportunity and just where the program is now. And if he can see value in what I've done, I've got to take that call. So I want to clarify that this is, when Derek, the athletic director, gave me a call, I don't know, never met him before and we were just talking.

And I said, well, give me an hour. He said, do you have some candidates? And I said, give me an hour and let me just, and I kind of started thinking because I have some other friends in the profession that we did talk about some other names, but I said, what are you looking for? And here's what I really want you to hit.

This is gonna be your trademark, which the one thing about football teams, when you hear the word culture in retail or corporate America, it's hard to really feel it. College football, you feel that culture every Saturday when that team jogs on the field. You can see it, you can hear it, and you can feel it. And so I said, Eddie, you know, I know we're friends, but they've asked me to do a job. I'm going to ask you a couple of questions here. And we asked a couple of questions about his family and all that. And I said, okay, BG walks on that field.

I'm sitting in the suite or upstairs and watching that thing. What am I gonna see? What am I gonna hear? And what am I gonna feel when the orange and brown come running out on that field? Tell me what you said about the downhill. Mark, you're gonna love this shit, bro, when you hear this. Go get it.

I'm getting chills thinking about it. Hey, there's one thing we're going to be as fast physical and discipline and, and it's going to be duo power counter repeat, you know, everybody in the stadium will know what we're running. The question is, can you stop it? That's going to be the mindset, you know, and, and Mark, as you know, man, listen, the sauce is made in the off season, man. The championships are won in the winter, the spring, and most definitely

the summer. So, you know how you know how it was built. You know how it was built, the mat drills, the the competition drills, the, you know, I, I, I, Hey, urban, you want to appreciate this. Um, there's a, is a field, like a couple of fields, uh, side by side that's gated. Uh, it might not have not, it might not have been gated when you were here, but for summer camp, I'm going to let that grass grow high. First two weeks we go on, we're going to live in there in that pit, and then hit that hill at the practice. Yeah, feel bad for you feel good.

Yeah, yeah, go. So yes, man. And I mean, I'm excited because these kids are excited because I had to get in front of them and really address the elephant in the room of where we are, you know, all of us are not feeling really good about the change, the transition, how it transpired. I had to tell my team that I'm leaving to go to another job, you know, and why, and that was painful.

Coaches, you know, painful. But I said, hey, this is where we're gonna find out what we're made of right here. How mentally tough are we? We were made for a moment like this because here we are. Now the question is, when we leave this room, who are we going to be? What do we choose to do about this? Are we going to attack it and become closer and really focus on building a strong relationship and getting through this? Or are we just going

to fracture and dismantle and run away from it? And you know, I said a few other few things, but I think it resonated with those guys and now they're committed to, hey, we wanna dig our heels in and get the process rolling. And it's gonna be something when we were all out there on that stadium on Saturday in the fall, I don't know how good we wanna be,

but they're gonna understand that they've been played, they played BG for sure. No questions asked. From the field to the stage to Tennessee State and now Bowling Green University, Eddie George made the fresh move of the week brought to you by Wendy's. Go to Wendy's and taste the difference in a hamburger. We continue with coach George after this. after this. stronger than what you've been listening to. Because while your playlist screams, I need a vacation. My algorithm suggests book before March 30th. Remember, Sunwing. Save more. Do more. Book with your local travel advisor or at sunwing.ca. Want to own part of the airline you flew with on your last vacation? Or part of the company that makes your favorite triple shot latte with extra foam?

What about owning part of a company that one day could send you on a tour of outer space? Now you can. With Partial Shares from TD Direct Investing, you can own part of your favorite companies. Just pick a stock and decide how much to spend on the share. It's a piece of cake. Learn more at td.com slash partial shares. TD, ready for you. Now we've always, I think the whole topic around college football, we've discussed it a lot on the show, has been just the state of college football that is in it with the NIL. I know you dealt with it a little bit at Tennessee. Like, how do you

go about evaluating your roster currently and, you know, adding to it through the NIL or being able to retain your people from going into the portal. What has been your approach and your strategy kind of dealing with the new landscape of college football? Well, this morning, I had a long, like about two hour conversation with the director of recruiting just giving me the lay of the land from who are the best recruiters on the staff, who recruits what area, how many guys on the roster, how many other guys on the roster do they get, knowing the roster, getting a lay of the land of NIL and donors. So I'm fully immersed

into that right now. Before I do anything, I have, this is my blueprint, all right? And on that blueprint, I have my players right in priority, all right? And I go right down that list and I have right next to it, what's needed, the goals, the action plan, ideas. So I understand like that's where I'm at right now. That's where it all starts. It starts with the players. I got to, you know, recruit my players now, you know, I got to get in front of them immediately.

When I'm done with the coaches, I got to go talk to them, have dinner with them, get to know them, say this offensive line, say, hey, here's the vision. This is what we're going to do. You're going to be developed, you know, inside and out. I'm going to put the best staff together. We want to still hold on tight to this thing and go right down the line. So the next, I don't know, the next four to five days, I will be living in this office, probably sleeping on the couch until I get the

staff right, until I get a plan in place for spring football. So these fans can be really proud of what they see in hearing the spray. That man is prepared. That man is prepared coach. Quick bowling green story. So I got there, it's a little different shape now, but we had no training table. And so I put one of my line coach,

which is a good one to have in charge of training table, and he met with them and I said, I want victory meals because a victory meal after you win, you get steak and you don't have stay, you get whatever you want. They had no training table. So I met with the people, they were one in 10, I think the year before I got there and I said, I'll make a deal with you. If we win a game, you give us a nice steak dinner, et cetera.

I think it was like 12 bucks, 14 bucks. I said, if we lose, you can give them the worst shit. You can, I don't care what you, because when you lose, you don't deserve to eat. You know, you figure it out. And so I met with him and he was great. The guy in charge, he said, all right, so you're telling me you're taking over a team

that's one and 10 or two and nine, whatever it was, and we can make that deal. And of course I got to make the budget work. So there's a chance, if you lose a lot of games, we're gonna make some money. I said, yep, let's do it. We ended up going, I think nine and three our first year. So it costs the school, it costs the school

a couple thousand bucks on our training table because we turned it around. Hey, it worked. The return on investment was great. Yes. But the facility also that brand new SIBO Center, Bob SIBO, he's a tremendous, he's your best guy. He's your guy.

I'm sure you met him already. If not, he's one of dear friend. We had a couple bottles of Silver Oak on the back patio at his house after our first year, the biggest turnaround in Division I that year. And he said, what do you need? I said, I need the CBO Center. And so I think there's a third bottle of Silver Oak.

He said, okay, we took a pencil out on napkins and we drew what the CBO Center would look like. You know what's amazing, Rob and Mark? You drive by there now, it looks like that. He built the CBO Center a year later, two years later, and that's the office he's in right now. So I'm telling you, man, BG's ready to go get a Mac championship.

Well, I appreciate the urban. Hey, I'm gonna hold you to it now. There are some events I'm gonna try to ask you to come to, man. Done, done. There, you know, I'll talk to you offline, but I think it would be great. We can, you know, get that fourth bottle of Silver Oak.

This $2 million NIL award chest going. you know, get that fourth bottle of silver oak. This two million dollar and I yell word chest going. Yes, let's go. And I have to invite Ingram up there, too. Yeah. And if you want to, I'll be there. It's tequila. It's not why you go through tequila to get him. Tequila. OK, got you. Los Landeros tequila.

Los Landeros. Eddie, let's talk about scheduling. Next year, your two big away games that are going to bring in some money for you at Cincinnati, at Louisville. As you go forward, what's your scheduling approach at a conference going to be and how soon can you

get Ohio State on your schedule? Well, they're already on. 27. I don't know what date it is, but they're already on it in 27. So I'm not looking at that one yet. Let me just let me just deal with it. I gotta know what I got in the building first before I started worried about what's down the road in Columbus. But you know when I was at Tennessee State we played against Notre Dame, we played Mississippi State. It was a great environment.

And, you know, to have an opportunity to play against the Blue Blood Schools allows our kids to have that great experience. And that, in fact, in fact, it really spawned our season two years ago when we had our first winning season at Tennessee State. We went up to Notre Dame and the score at halftime was 10 to 3. And she was at the one quarter was 10 to 3. Our kids play hard, we knocked somebody out on the kickoff, got a fumble recovery. And that's when we woke up the echoes and they put 52 on us.

But I say, for that first quarter, we gave them hell and I said, listen, we know what it is, we know we understood what we competed and that's it we played hard and we forced them to play us at a different level so we went on to have our first winning season of course nine and three last year we built on to that so my actually my freshman year we played BG and there was a tight ball game through four quarters so all Mac schools are going to play each other. This is a tough division, great coaches. And, you know, I can't wait to compete in it.

Then any man, big bro, you know, I appreciate you. You've had a legendary college career, Heisman, choice one legendary NFL career. how has your successes and your failures prepared you to be the coach that you are becoming? Like, you know, done a great job at Tennessee State now at Bowling Green, how has your experiences as a player prepared you and how do you pour

into your players throughout, you know, leaning on your experiences as a player? Well, Mark, that's a great question, man. I'm always talking about my failures, and not necessarily successes. You know, it's the failures that really make you. And everything that I've done, you know, even when I played ball,

the two fumbles I had against Illinois in my freshman year led me to win the Heisman Show for my seniors. Playing in the NFL, having come a yard shy of possibly tying the ballgame against the Rams and Super Bowl 34. Losing the fight that next year being the number one seed in the NFL in the playoffs, losing against Baltimore and Ray Lewis and that great defense and thousand. Always just sharing those stories and saying, hey, it's not the event that happens to you,

it's how you respond. That's where mental toughness comes in. It's how you respond to it. We never lose, we learn. And that's the beauty of it. So even as a head coach, you know, some of my toughest days, man, you know, I, there was a situation in Tennessee State, I did not believe existed. I mean, we had a homecoming game, there were some things

happening on the sideline that I was very disappointed in, found out that players were involved, a couple of the staff members. I'm like, this is not it. So I had that, actually that moment changed my entire coaching style. Because at that point I was really observing and I was very laid back and just trying to figure out who I was gonna be as a coach. And that's when I put the non-negotiables in place

and things shifted from there. So you have to go through the hard stuff. You have to embrace the hard stuff in order to find out who you are and to see the beauty that lies on the other side of that. Coach, so this year we have Deshaun Jackson heading to be the head coach at Delaware State, Michael Vick to be the head coach at Norfolk State. Of course, Coach Prime did it at Jackson State and you getting your head coaching start at Tennessee State. All four of these NFL former elite athletes getting their head coaching debuts, if you will, at HBCUs,

historically black college and universities. Why are HBCUs becoming a bit of a gateway to becoming a head coach for former players? I'm not quite sure. I think you know, Dion definitely started this. I think he was always always coaching one. Like for years, high school, always coaching the sons through Little League and junior high high school and so forth.

So he left the TV world and got into coaching. And man, I thought it was really cool. I wasn't like I said, I wasn't seeking to become a coach. And then when I did it, I called actually called pride and asked him, can I be successful at doing this? Having no coaching experience? And he says, yes, you are the CEO of your program. You played the game.

You know, I very rarely do I call plays. I was like, that makes sense. So I jumped into it. And I've had some success. Now I'll say this, you know, the HBCU world is, is different. It's challenging. There aren't a lot of resources, a lot of things you want to have to do on your own and grind through it. But it's a great teaching ground for you. It prepares you for every shared scenario and you appreciate things a little bit more. When you've come from an Alabama or an Ohio State or a Bowling Green. And you just have to be very creative in terms of getting things done. And, you know, it's going to be, it's going to be great. I think Michael and

Deshawn are going to have a wonderful experience, but it's going to be a lot of work that lies ahead for them. So you spoke to Coach Prime before you got into head coaching at an HBCU. Did you talk to Deion before you made that move from Tennessee State up to the Mac and Bowling Group? Yeah, I'm a part of it. I rely on a few guys. Jerome Betis, one. Deion, just trying to get a sense of is this a good opportunity? Given the timing of this, how do you manage to, I mean, this is in March, okay? And the staffs are set, we're going into spring ball. There's some challenges that lie ahead with this thing.

So it was a very difficult decision to make, but one that I feel good about in my gut and I feel like it was time and I think is a great opportunity to do it. So he gave me that vote of confidence and he gave me some advice and that's what I see, you know, whether it's Urban or Jim Pressell or a bunch of guys. I've vetted out got their couldn't go. Yeah. So Coach Prime took his kids, right from, from the HBC out to Colorado. You have a young man, goes by the name of Eric George, who was second team all-conference defensive lineman, led Tennessee state in tackles for losses. Are we going to have father and son coaching and

playing together? Right now he's at Tennessee state, working out, going to class. If he decides to jump in the portal, that will be discussed. So that's a firm. Yes. That's right. Eddie, thanks for joining us, man. It's you look good there. I'm so proud of you and I can't wait to come see you. Yeah. Thank you so much, guys. Hey, real quick, real quick, Mark.

We got a little tradition sometimes during our interviews that we like to wrap things up with. And this mark feels like the perfect time to throw that show. Yeah. Like Rob said, we do a thing on the show, man. We've been sitting here asking you questions for 30 straight minutes. Now we're giving you a chance to fire back a question and whoever you want to man. So, uh, you get one, you get one, you get one shot, one shot.

All right, Mark, this is for you. Okay. Okay. If urban Meyer was a color, what color would he be and why? If he was a color, what color would he be and why? Yes. Damn. Yeah, you asked it as a question, so there we go. He be, he be.

I'm waiting on this one. He be blue, man, because he a cool cat. He be be blue man, cause he a cool cat. He'd be blue man, cause he a cool cat. That's what you wanna say, blue cool cat? Is that acceptable, Urban? I'd be burning red is what I feel. I was gonna say red, but I was like, that's my dog, man. I've known him as a blue cat.

Man, hey, Urban, what you going to do with this guy? Yeah, I don't have great chemistry, I see. I just. I'll tell you what, Rob. How about staring at two guys I love? Listen, he might have been red to everybody else, but to me, ever since I've known him, he's been blue. But think about that.

JK Dobbin, Zeke Elliott, if I would have had Eddie George and Mark Ingram, I not wore your ass out? I know who he was as a coach, but I know him as a big nooner. And so he's cool. He golfs. We have tequila. You know what I mean? That's blue. You know what I mean? If you would have asked me in 2009 when we were playing against him in the SC championship, he was a red cat. Yes. I won that game. Right?

Yeah, we did. They won the year before. We got him in 08. He got us. Oh, no. I love it. I love it. I'm two or one versus him.

I'm two or one versus him. One and one. Coach George, coach George, have you learned the words to IZIGI Zumba yet? I learned it yesterday. There's not a lot of words to it. There's not many words involved. And I'm learning about the, uh, the claw to theZIGI Zumba yet? I learned it yesterday. There's not a lot of words to it, Rob. There's not many words involved. There's not a lot of words. And I'm learning about the claw to the secret handshake.

So that's... Oh yeah. Yeah. Oh, there's a handshake. Yes, there is. So I'm learning the words as we speak. There's, I think there's like five words total and most of them are I, Ziggy, and Zumba.

Hey, set up a fundraiser. Me, Rob, and Mark Mark come hang with you. Hey, I would love that. That'll be all do it. We'll raise some cash or better yet or better yet. Big New kickoff rolls in town for the battle of I 75 that T team and bowling green. Love it.

Coach George coach Eddie George Congrats on the bowling green gig and thanks for joining us this week on the Triple Option presented by Wendy's. Appreciate you. Thank you. Welcome back to the Triple Option presented by Wendy's, Urban Mark Rob Stone back here with you. Time to take out the Triple Option crystal ball guys. It is brought to you by BetMGM. Place your moneyline prop parlay and same

game parlay bets at bet MGM download the app today please gamble responsibly these lines as always are subject to change so here we are they didn't give you a crystal ball stoner that's next week i agree with you i was thinking the same thing wouldn't it be great if i could just kind of lift up this crystal option crystal triple option crystal ball now on sale. All right. So we're going to try and get a crystal ball next week. We'll have Chris Chris, our producers all over that right now. We'll add that to his to do list spring ball. It's underway. Listen, we understand there's unknowns all over the place. The transfer portal who stay in who's going, but we do know are the schedules. And of course our good friends in Las Vegas have an opinion. They have an opinion on a lot of things.

They have an opinion on teams win totals for next season. So today guys, we are going to look at, we are Penn State's regular season schedule. Regular season. Bet MGM has set their regular season win total at 10 and a half. There's a reason that half is in there guys, cause it makes things

squirrely. All right. So remember last year, Penn State regular season 11 and one, they're one loss to Ohio State. They've got a ton of guys coming back. Mark, we've been talking about this, the QB, Aller, the running back Singleton, and Allen, a ton of guys on the offensive line. They're going to lose Ty Warren who we all love. No Ty Ty Warren. But huge optimism. Optimism is really, really high in happy valley as it should be. Let's take a look at their 12 game regular season schedule. Here you go, Mark. Here we go. Let's look, let's look at the opening, I guess, three games, right coach. This better be a

three and Oh start. Yeah. This is, uh, excited for the Penn State fans to pay whatever they pay for their season tickets are you do it's over 900 bucks a season ticket but wait a minute wait all right so nine hundred dollars is that a reserve no there's more inflation there's more inflation no coach they're gonna add 20 bucks a seat and they're gonna add 45 bucks for a parking pass all of this is going to what they call the legacy fund. And legacy fund is there for scholarships for facilities for NIL. It's kind of a nice, I think, convenient umbrella to

cover all of the added expenditures that is part of being Penn State. Of course, they are going through some renovations at their beautiful stadium as well. So you're looking at an extra 65 easy for a season ticket. So you figure the first game, Nevada travel across the country, you know, probably over at halftime or at least, you know, if Penn State's been, well, they've got a lot of players coming back, you know, they're kind of following the, the, the mode of, uh, the Wolverines in Ohio State with everybody coming back. You wonder if this is that kind of team,

but you won't know until Oregon. I mean, imagine, I'm serious now. If you're a fan, a big Penn State fan, you're gonna travel the migration across the state of Pennsylvania. 110,000 people in that big time stadium, and you're gonna watch them play Nevada FIU and Villanoa.

Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. I wonder if one of those is gonna be the whiteout game. That's it. And so, and then they have Oregon Northwestern, no Wolverines on that schedule, yet obviously at Ohio State, which is gonna be a tough one for them.

Indiana is gonna have completely rebuilt Nebraska. So their home schedule, Mark, Nevada, Florida International, Vill schedule mark, Nevada, Florida International, Villanova, Oregon, big time, that'll be a big time atmosphere there. Northwestern, Indiana and Nebraska. That's your Penn State for 900 or whatever it is and they should bet MGM say 10 and a half coach 10 and a half. I think they're gonna get it with that schedule. Yeah, I sure

don't get it. You think they're gonna get it without schedule. Yeah, I sure don't get it. You think they're gonna get 11 regular season wins? I do. Okay, so let's give them the Ohio State. Let's say they lose at Ohio State. Right. Okay. So they have four more. Yeah, that's it. They can't mess up anything else. That includes Oregon includes Oregon. Yeah, right. That includes that. That includes going to Iowa. You know, I mean, at Iowa is a tricky one. Damn.

You're putting me on a spot here, man. At 10 and a half country, 10 and a half. I did, I did that hook, man. That hook gets you to half. That half way I go. I did the fast math coach and I was like, nine, I'm comfortable at nine. And then to get to 10, much less 11, which is what Vegas is saying. Games.

Ooh, that is tough. I'm going to take 11 and 1. I'm going on it. Wow. Coach Franklin loves you. I think Mark is going to be the motivator for Coach Franklin. Yeah, I am. I'm just not the believer. Like, they've been the same team for the past five years.

Just can't win the big game. And they got a couple of them here. They got Oregon. They got Ohio state. That's it. Yeah. And so that, that's your two losses. That means they get 10 wins.

At Iowa is a tough one. At Iowa is a real tough one. Iowa. So listen, coach, you got Oregon, Ohio state at Iowa, and then you know, you'd in for a dog fight in one of them nine games. Hopefully it's not Nevada FIU or Villanova. I got less than 10 and a half man. I got him at 10 wins. They're still gonna put him in the playoff. I'm with you.

We're here to motivate you coach Franklin. We love you. We believe in you, but we only believe in you up to a point and it's not 10 and a half regular season wins currently. Home no Tyler Warren. Yes, they got Drew Aller coming back. They got the double headed monster, K-Tron Allen and Nick Singleton coming back. But who will you throw the ball to? Somebody needs to emerge as a receiving threat

for this quarterback and first team. Who are you gonna throw the ball to? It was a problem last year. It was a problem the year before. If they didn't have Tyler Warren, there would've been no air attack. So who are you gonna throw the football to? Drew Aller and Andy Kodlienke.

All right. Coach says they're doing it. Mark and I not as optimistic, although I'll go ahead and say this. They're still going to make the college football playoffs. I said that 10 wins still get you in the playoffs. Penn State will get themselves to the playoffs. All right. Make sure to follow, subscribe, rate us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts, as well as across social media at 3X Option Show. Thanks as always to our sponsors, Wendy's and BetMGM.

How great was it to have the legend Eddie George on with us this week? We'll see you again next week on The Triple Option.