BALTIMORE — Ray Lewis and Eddie George both arrived in the NFL as first-round picks in 1996. They rose to stardom together, their showdowns defining the Ravens’ fierce rivalry with the Tennessee Titans. They later became close friends, bonded by their relationship with the late Steve McNair.
And now Lewis and George have something else in common: They were considered for the same head coaching job. According to Football Scoop, Tennessee State officials discussed their coaching vacancy with Lewis before hiring George, a Nashville resident.
George, like NFL legend and first-year Jackson State coach Deion Sanders, does not have any prior coaching experience. But Sanders told Mississippi’s Clarion-Ledger that “guys like Ray Lewis,” despite their background, “are certainly guys that I truly know are interested in the love, the game and love kids.”
Lewis has previously acknowledged that coaching could be in his future. In 2017, four years into his retirement, he told the Ravens’ team website that he was “thinking about it a little bit.”
Ed Reed, another Pro Football Hall of Famer, couldn’t stay away from the sport for long. In 2016, the former Ravens safety served as an assistant defensive backs coach for the Buffalo Bills. In 2020, Reed joined the University of Miami, his alma mater, to work as the Hurricanes’ chief of staff, an advisory role under coach Manny Diaz.
