CHICAGO STATE UNIVERSITY NAMES FIRST FOOTBALL COACH IN SCHOOL HISTORY

Chicago State University has hired its first football coach, making the school’s history.

People have always wondered why Chicago State didn’t have their own football team and now they do and his name is Bobby Rome II.

According to ABC News, Chicago State will begin play in the Northeast Conference starting with the 2026 season, competing in the NCAA’s FCS level of college football.

Rome will be tasked with building a program from the ground up, a unique opportunity that will bring high-level college football within Chicago’s city limits.

According to reports, Rome comes with head coaching experience at three other schools, most recently at Florida Memorial University, a historically black university, from 2022 to 2024. At FMU, he led a program turnaround taking the team from zero conference wins to back-to-back Sun Conference Championship game appearances.

As of now, it’s unclear where Chicago State will play its games, but for now Rome is focused on building the program, which includes recruiting the right players from the Chicago area.