Robert Edward Lombardi (June 3, 1938 – May 28, 2021) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and educator. He served as the head football coach at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

for three seasons, from 1976 to 1978, compiling a record of 9–15. He is the grandfather of

Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by th ...

quarterback Rocky Lombardi. Lombardi was born on June 3, 1938, in the

South Side of Chicago The South Side is an area of Chicago, Illinois, U.S. It lies south of the city's Loop area in the downtown. Geographically, it is the largest of the three sides of the city that radiate from downtown, with the other two being the north and we ...

. He attended Knox College in

Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical ...

, where he met his wife, Melinda, the daughter of football coach and athletic director,

Walter Hass Walter L. Hass (October 7, 1911 – September 13, 1987) was an American football coach and athletic director. He served in both capacities at the University of Chicago. Hass was also the athletic director and head football coach at Carleton Colleg ...

. Lombardi began his career in 1961 at

Homewood-Flossmoor High School Homewood-Flossmoor High School (H-F) is a comprehensive public high school in Flossmoor, Illinois. The district encompasses nearly 11.5 square miles drawing students from Homewood, Flossmoor, Chicago Heights, Glenwood, Hazel Crest, and Olympia ...

Flossmoor, Illinois Flossmoor () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 9,704 at the 2020 census. Flossmoor is approximately 25 miles south of the Chicago Loop. Geography Flossmoor is located at (41.541684, -87.684970). According ...

, as a teach of economics and math and assistant football coach. In 1967, he was promoted to head football coach at Homewood-Flossmoor. Lombardi succeeded his father-in-law, Hass, as head football coach at the University of Chicago in 1976. He was also appointed associated profession in the university's Department of Physical Education. In 1979 he was hired as head football coach and physical education teacher at

Rich East High School Rich East High School or REHS was a public four-year high school located in Park Forest, Illinois, a southern suburb of Chicago in the United States. Rich East's campus serves the cities of Park Forest, Matteson, Olympia Fields, Chicago Heights a ...

Park Forest, Illinois Park Forest is a village located south of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, with a small southern portion in Will County, Illinois, United States. The village was originally designed as a planned community for veterans returning from World War II. ...

. He remained head football coach at Rich East until 1997. Lombardi died on May 28, 2021, at his home in

New Lenox, Illinois New Lenox is a village in central Will County, Illinois, United States. It is a southwestern suburb of Chicago and an eastern suburb of Joliet. The village population was 27,214 as of 2020. New Lenox has schools like Lincoln-Way West High School ...

Head coaching record

College

References

1938 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American educators Chicago Maroons football coaches High school football coaches in Illinois Knox College (Illinois) alumni University of Chicago faculty Sportspeople from Chicago Coaches of American football from Illinois Schoolteachers from Illinois {{1970s-collegefootball-coach-stub