Reggie Barlow has been named as the next Tennessee State (OVC-Big South) football head coach. Barlow is replacing Eddie George, who left for Bowling Green earlier in March. George went 24-22 overall, won a share of the Big South-OVC title in 2024, and reached the 2024 FCS Playoffs. Barlow is 97-66 overall in his three head coaching stints at the collegiate and professional levels.
Barlow was most recently the head coach of the DC Defenders in the XFL for the 2023 season and the UFL for the 2024 season. The Defenders reached the 2023 XFL Championship Game but lost 35-26 to the Arlington Renegades. DC did not reach the playoffs during the 2024 season after finishing 4-6 overall. Barlow went 14-8 overall in two seasons as head coach of the Defenders.
Before joining the XFL, Barlow was the head coach at two HBCU programs for nearly 15 years. He led Alabama State (SWAC) for 8 seasons from 2007 through 2014, amassing a 49-42 overall record and a 38-28 record in SWAC games. Alabama State finished as co-champions of the SWAC East for three consecutive years from 2010 through 2012. Barlow’s contract was not renewed by Alabama State in 2014, which led to his departure.
Barlow returned to college football in 2016 as head coach of the NCAA Division II Virginia State Trojans. He posted three winning seasons in his first four years including the 10-1 record in 2017. VSU won the CIAA title and made the Division II Playoffs in 2017 for the second time in school history. Barlow went 34-16 overall and 25-10 in the CIAA during his 5 seasons at Virginia State. He left VSU after the 2021 season to become head coach of the XFL’s DC Defenders.
Barlow played collegiately at Alabama State and was selected in the 1996 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars. After 5 years in Jacksonville, he spent the 2001 season with the Oakland Raiders before joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2002. He was part of Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl XXXVII winning team. Barlow will make his Tennessee State coaching debut in Nashville, Tennessee on Saturday, August 30 against North Carolina A&T (CAA) in the John Merritt Classic.
Photo Credit to Virginia State University Athletics
