Tony Lombardi Tony E . Lombardi ( born January 29 , 1962 ) is an American football player and coach in the United States . Playing career . Lombardi attended Rich East High School in his hometown of Park Forest , Illinois , a southern suburb of Chicago , graduating in 1980 . While in high school , he played tailback on the football team , which was coached by his father , Bob Lombardi . Lombardi played running back for the Arizona State University Sun Devils from 1980 through 1983 , and was awarded a varsity letter for all four years of play . Lombardi went undrafted in the 1984 NFL Draft and signed as a free agent with the Chicago Bears . However , he did not make the team ' s roster . Coaching career . Assistant coaching . After spending the 1985 season as defensive coordinator for his alma mater , Rich East High School in Park Forest , Illinois , Lombardi served as defensive backs coach for the Wisconsin Badgers while earning a Master ' s Degree from the University of Wisconsin - Madison . From 1989 through 1996 he was the defensive coordinator for the NCAA Division II Mankato State Mavericks ( now Minnesota State University ) . In 1997 , then - head coach Rick Rasnick hired him as the linebacker s coach for the Eastern Michigan Eagles , and in the 1998 and 1999 seasons , he served as the team ' s defensive coordinator . Eastern Michigan . Lombardi was the head college football coach for the Eastern Michigan Eagles located in Ypsilanti , Michigan , and he held that position for one game during the 1999 season . His coaching record at Eastern Michigan was 0 wins and 1 loss . As of the conclusion of the 2010 season , this ranks him # 37 at Eastern Michigan in total wins and # 38 at the school in winning percentage ( ) . The first ten games of the 1999 season were coached by Rick Rasnick , with Lombardi serving as defensive coordinator . EMU athletic director Dave Diles fired Rasnick on November 16 , 1999 , and named Lombardi as the interim head coach , to serve for the final game of the season . Under Rasnick , the 1999 team had compiled a record of 4 wins and 6 losses . Lombardi ' s one game as EMU ' s head coach was a 24 - 30 loss to the Northern Illinois on November 20 , 1999 that was played in DeKalb , Illinois . With the loss on the last game of the year under Lombardi , the team concluded its season with a record of 4 – 7 . Lombardi is the only EMU head football coach to serve for just a single game , and as a result , his five days served is the shortest tenure of any head coach in the history of EMU football . Jeff Woodruff hired Lombardi to coach the Running Backs and coordinate the Special Teams for the 2001 season . Following the 2001 season Lombardi departed for the upstart professional football league the XFL . High school . At the end of Eastern Michigan ' s 1999 season , none of Rasnick ' s assistant coaches were retained . In 2001 , Lombardi was the defensive coordinator for the short - lived Chicago Enforcers of the XFL . When the XFL folded after one year , Lombardi decided to stay close to home coaching high school football in order to spend more time with his four - year - old son Rocky , saying , " Football has been so great , providing me with everything I ' ve had in life . There ' s no way I was going to let Rocky grow up hating football because his dad is always gone . " In 2002 , Lombardi became the head coach at Homewood - Flossmoor High School in Homewood , Illinois , where his father had been coach in the late 1960s , and he quickly revitalized the struggling team . However , after just one season , Lombardi left Homewood - Flossmoor without explanation , taking over at Hinsdale Central High School in Hinsdale , Illinois , a western suburb of Chicago . After three seasons at Hinsdale Central , in which the team posted a 30 – 7 record , two trips to the Class 8A quarterfinals and one trip to the semifinals , Lombardi was fired in March 2006 . His lawsuit against the school district for breach of contract was settled for $ 10 , 000 , and within a month he was hired by Washington High School in Cedar Rapids , Iowa . During his tenure at Cedar Rapids Washington , Lombardi has led the Warriors to four playoff berths , including two trips to the state quarterfinals and one trip to the Semi - Finals . The Warriors have won two conference championships and he has been named MVC coach of the year twice , in 2007 and 2008 . He was invited to guest coach at the Under Armour All - American game in 2009 . In addition to serving as the Head Football Coach , Lombardi also assists with track and was recently named the head baseball coach , beginning in the 2012 season . He currently has 5 kids , all of them in sports .